Sunstone
by SilverLily aka Blood Moon
Summary: prequel to Illusion of the Ellipse He must save the world from plunging into darkness, in return accept a life of damnation? Yaoi! YYY
1. Default Chapter

Silver Lily: Duh, duh, dunnnn. . . . . We're baack. . .  
  
Yami Yugi: Ra help us!!!  
  
Jade: This is it! The eagerly awaited prequel to Illusion of the Ellipse. Hope you enjoy it.  
  
Silver Lily: I made a promise in Illusion of the Ellipse that the 100th reviewer would get a crucial role in my fic. Although they weren't in it, they will show up in this one, and the sequel.  
  
Jade: And the winner was. . . .Candy!  
  
Silver Lily: Candy will be known as Aeyeta in this fic, so keep an eye out!  
  
-This story is set in ancient Egypt, and contains the reasons behind Yami's being. I know it's a sad story, but it's predetermined. Please enjoy.  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
No, don't turn on the lamp; who I am is not important. The lamp wouldn't work, anyway. If you shout for your parents, they won't hear you. Are you afraid?  
  
-Nicole Griffith, A Troll Story  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
The metallic sword glistened in the intense light of Re-Atum for a fleeting moment before it was thrust downward in one swift motion once again. It chimed against another, scraping against the placid surface, sighing with friction.  
  
Slender legs danced about the sullen floor, carefully keeping a defensive stance.  
  
"May you become a part of Khepesh!" their opponent roared. They merely laughed.  
  
"And may your hair turn red!"  
  
Another wave of angry blows began again, each one dodged with skill and grace. Sweat beaded about the brows of the dueling pair, chests heaving with coming exhaustion.  
  
The blows continued, the pair weaving their way in a sacred dance of death. Even the insects in the air had been known to be sliced by the swift moving blades.  
  
"ENOUGH!!" A commanding voice boomed with regality, demanding to be heard. Immediately, and without hesitation, both weapons dropped to their owner's side. Deep purple eyes narrowed incredulously.  
  
Blue-gray eyes stared at the pharaoh, glimmering with good humor and poorly covered mischief. Silver hair glistened below her elbows, unusually white skin with a silver tint bright with color.  
  
"Is something wrong, my liege?" She smiled sweetly.  
  
The pharaoh snorted. "One of these days you two are going to kill each other."  
  
The male opposite the female spoke up. Shoulder length brown hair askew from the fight. "Oh, never my Lord. We merely do this out of boredom."  
  
At this, the female laughed. "Boredom? Since when do we have time to get bored, love? Our promotion to the Pharaoh's Circle has taken up any spare time we ever had."  
  
The male clutched his chest in a dramatic performance. "Of course! Hark, how could I have been so foolish? Oh, woe as we. As if we ever had _any_ spare time. Honestly, our God among men sure is arrogant to think that _we _, of all people, would have time to be his council members." He stuck his nose in the air indignantly, only to become cross-eyed when a grape made connection with the bridge of his nose. The female laughed at his antics.  
  
"Your 'arrogant pharaoh' is right here in front of you," the king laughed. "Seriously, though, why do you spend so much time doing this?"  
  
The woman sighed. "For your protection, Yu Gi Oh, you know that. If you had a wife, we'd be training her right now."  
  
The addressed found the floor very interesting. "Now, Selene, we won't discuss that right now."  
  
The silver haired woman shook her head. Not many knew this, as that is how they wanted to keep it: the pharaoh had, unusual tastes. Women didn't interest him. At all. Not that he could find a partner that suited him in the male populace, either. So much for an heir.  
  
"Was there something you needed to discuss with us, Yu Gi Oh?" the male asked.  
  
"Just an update as to how your new apprentice is coming along, Jade. Aeyeta, was it?"  
  
Selene smiled. "Just fine, I think. Quite a knack for water manipulation. It comes in quite handy when she accidentally lights half of the palace on fire."  
  
"She's learning," Jade added.  
  
"Seth didn't seem too happy about another woman joining our ranks," Yu Gi Oh stated.  
  
The woman's face became serious. "You know what we think about that priest. Don't let him in on our discussion concerning the Games, no matter how much he presses. We don't trust him."  
  
"I agree with you. I don't trust him either. How are the items coming," the king asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Good, I think. Four of them are already done. The rod, the ankh, the scales and the ring, I do believe. The plans for the puzzle are coming along quite nicely," the brunette responded.  
  
The pharaoh nodded. "That's going to be the most difficult to complete. But already I can feel the strain from maintaining the realm start to diminish a little." The creation of these items was meant to capture and hold the powers of the Shadow Realm, and reduce the stress that the current pharaoh was always under. The pharaoh's father had died at forty-three years of age because of the Games, and the power he had to control. " And the tomb?"  
  
"Ahead of schedule. The slaves are lasting longer now that we have a water holding system there, thanks to the new apprentice. We found a new family to guard it. The Ishtar clan, I believe?" Jade nodded to his other to confirm her statement.  
  
"Keep up the good work, and alert me immediately if something comes up. I have hearings to get to."  
  
Jade gave a lazy salute before whisking his lover away down the halls of the palace. The pharaoh never would get used to salutes, something Jade said that he picked up from a place called Sparta. Greeks. What was he going to do with them?  
  
Yu Gi Oh shook his head at the two. They had been at his service for a while, trustworthy beyond doubt. But, they were the most unusual pair of people he had ever come across.  
  
They tried to explain it to him once, not that he could understand it very well. Something about being bonded deeper than anyone in Upper or Lower Egypt. Something like, when Jade looked at the sunlight, Selene would sneeze, or when she closed her eyes, he would fall asleep. They always finished each other's thoughts or sentences, and could feel each other's emotional and physical pain.  
  
He hated to admit it, but he was jealous. Not violently, just silently. He was happy for them, though.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The pharaoh growled. "I already told you, Seth, I will not allow that to happen."  
  
The red glow of sunset illuminated the horizon of Egypt, the blue Nile River glowing with life.  
  
The priest sighed angrily. "The slaves are nothings. Nobodies. The Games need human sacrifices. Instead of offering the wizards of the loosing side, we could offer the slaves instead. Trust me on this."  
  
"No! By the light the Eye I will not allow that to happen! Those wizards know what the stakes are when they enter a Duel. I will not force slaves to go to their own death when they have no control over it. It's out of the question, priest!" He gripped the railings of the balcony tightly, knuckles turning white. Ra help him, how he wanted to strangle that priest.  
  
Seth was angry. Why wouldn't the idiot listen to him? He was far too soft to be a pharaoh. For years now this poor excuse for a man was becoming more of a thorn in his side.  
  
"Osiris will send you to Duat for your foolishness," he drawled, knowing this would make the pharaoh angry.  
  
"Go sacrifice a pig," Yu Gi Oh spat.  
  
The purple-clad sorcerer growled, and turned to leave, looking back one last time. "Even gods fall, you know."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Well, there you have it! Chapter one down! Now, words that you should know: Khepesh (the thigh): The constellation of Set, the evil god of the Egyptians. Red hair and slow animals like pigs and other livestock are sacred to him. (except cows)  
  
Duat is the dark realm of the dead.  
  
Jade: Aibou did her homework. *nods*  
  
Silver Lily: R&R!! 


	2. Days Begin

Silver Lily: *snores*  
  
Jade: Aibou?  
  
Silver Lily: Hmm, so tired. *yawns* Must get this up tonight. . .  
  
Jade: *Sweatdrops* Oh, this is not good. Better start it now before she falls asleep.  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Woe to you, depraved spirits, hope not ever to see Heaven, I come to take you to the other shore into eternal darkness, into heat and cold."  
  
-Dante, The Divine Comedy  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The blissful silence of sleep filled the weary mind of the exhausted dictator. Gladly, he allowed stoic thoughts to amble through his mind, his dreams graciously uneventful. The beautiful darkness of the night easing his pained eyes that remained closed, his sore muscles that so direly needed rest unmoving. Hmm, sleep was very welcomed, indeed.  
  
The warm escape of his large bed enraptured him, promising to take away all of his problems, all of his stress, and offer him hours upon hours of sweet, melodic snores.  
  
The blinding light of the rising Eye bore into his closed lids, forcing a large groan to rumble in his throat.  
  
"Rise and shine, dearest! The sky is blue, the Eye shines bright, and the Nile flows with life! Rise, we have so much work to do today!!!"  
  
That sweet voice which at the moment sounded nauseatingly perky chimed brightly. His closest advisor had flung the curtains of his balcony wide open, waking him like she did most mornings to begin the new days chores.  
  
"Oh, come on sleeping beauty. We have a wonderful excursion down to the Valley this morning. The drivers need your further instructions on the tomb." She chuckled. "Those silly priests are raiding the crypts of old, again too. Claiming that 'it's needed for the filling of the 'Great One's' resting place. And to think that it's not allowed for common thieves but the followers of the Gods can do as they please. Honestly."  
  
The pharaoh groaned. He usually hinted against such actions, but it was true. The priests did often go into the old crypts and take the gold and other such holy symbols, like scarabs, from the areas of the dead only to be used for themselves or the tomb of the current ruler. All he could manage to do in response, however, was pull his blankets further over his head.  
  
"Oh, no you don't, Yu Gi Oh. You're getting up, just like the rest of us."  
  
The king suddenly felt his source of warmth ripped from him, then blushed, realizing that he had very little on. "Selene!!"  
  
The silver-haired woman scoffed. "Oh, please! I pour your bath ever day and tend to your every whim when you're sick, and you're yelling at me like _this _? _Men _."  
  
As usual, she was right. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to drool over him or anything. An action which would make him extremely uncomfortable. She already had her Other, and merely seemed to take care of him as a close sister or a mother might. Yu Gi Oh had come to the conclusion long ago that she was an extremely maternal person. It was a shame that she didn't have a child. Duty dictated otherwise, though.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Soft hymns filled the empty hall. A sweet melody unknown to the arid region filled the lonely gloom, the golden walls and clean swept floor hungrily absorbing the foreign tune.  
  
A welcomed change of pace to the ever vigil medjai.  
  
"Humming again, my sweet?" A deep male voice cooed.  
  
The tune stopped, only to be replaced by a charming laugh. "Just trying to pass the time."  
  
"You should be practicing."  
  
"Oh, but I am. See?" The strawberry blonde held up her hand ecstatically. The green-eyed male could see gleaming strands of a suspended liquid floating around the young woman's fingers. It appeared that she was weaving it into a type of net. It was only part way finished.  
  
"I don't see the purpose of this exercise, though."  
  
The male sighed. "Aeyeta, you know that any conjurer can summon their respective element to excess. The trick is to be able to manipulate it. Only then can you control it to have its ultimate effect. When you have complete control, you will have an advantage over you opponent that can merely summon. It's the same with the Games, as you know."  
  
The girl nodded, and continued to hum to herself, adding another loop through her net of glimmering water.  
  
"Is the pharaoh up yet?"  
  
"Selene should have him up any minute now," Jade replied. The apprentice looked at him skeptically.  
  
"Trust me, she's had a lot of experience."  
  
Right on cue, the annoyed growls of a pharaoh roamed down the hymn filled halls, followed by the amused laughter of a female advisor. Jade smiled.  
  
"Did every thing go well, Lover?"  
  
"Absolutely splendid, Beloved. Our God among men is dressed and ready to make his grand appearance." She stopped and looked around with her blue- gray eyes. "Where's Kekeweht?"  
  
"Hmm, he should be here," Aeyeta filled in.  
  
The black-haired man usually was quite prompt when he was needed. The five of them needed to get going down to the Valley shortly.  
  
"Ah, there he is," Yu Gi Oh chimed in, noticing the disgruntled look on the old man's face.  
  
"What ails you today, old friend," the king asked. The addressed growled, his age-worn skin rippling with twice the usual wrinkles.  
  
"That loaded high preist again. I swear, he changes his colors more often than Bakka."  
  
The others in the hall laughed, as that was quite true. "What did he do this time?" Selene asked.  
  
The senior advisor scowled, his brown eyes flashing dangerously. "That bastard. First he starts going on about the red in the new one's hair," he gestures to the apprentice," and then proceeds to tell me how well she's coming along in her practices! Can you believe it?" He cried indignantly.  
  
Jade narrowed his emerald green eyes. "He's up to something. He just might become a problem, Yu Gi Oh. We must be careful, I wouldn't be surprised if the sorcerer revolted or something."  
  
"Let's hope that doesn't happen," the pharaoh stated.  
  
"The signs have been slowly becoming more noticeable over the years, dear heart. We can't avoid this any more. And he's getting stronger." Selene calmly explained, directing her comment to the king.  
  
No, as some outsider might think, she did not covet intimate feelings for her ruler. She and her other half always seemed to create pet names for those they held dear. The deepest one's though, they kept for each other. Yu Gi Oh liked their ways, though, finding them endearing. His parents had never shown him nearly as much affection, believing that he would need to be strong if he was ever to rule the greatest power in the world. Most Egyptians seemed to be like that. Unusually hard and stern. Maybe he should find more Greeks to work for him. That thought made him smile. My, how that would make Seth angry!  
  
The pharaoh scolded himself. He had a bad habit of letting his thoughts wonder when he should be focused. Damn, he needed to work on that.  
  
"Yes, we will have to keep a _very_ close eye on him," was the only reply he could think of. "Let's get going. We have work to do today."  
  
And with that the five were off to the stables.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: I'm SO SORRY!!! I was sick over the weekend, and then I got a headache. . .  
  
Jade: More like a migraine, aibou. *shudders* I don't like it when you get those.  
  
Silver Lily: Yeah. Any who, then I has a lot of homework to do, too. But here it is!!! -Bakka is a god that changes his colors every hour. 


	3. Trivial Affairs

Silver Lily: TA DA!!! I'm baaack! And here's chapter three!!! I decided that it would be better if I added Yugi into this, though I think that you may find his being quite interesting. Please enjoy. It won't be as fluffy as usual, but plenty of action. I promise that.  
  
Jade: My aibou does not own Yu Gi Oh! either, so lay off. *glares*  
  
Silver Lily: Indeed. Make sure to review!! -Chibizoo, trust me, if any of my brain tissue could have been damaged while reading your stories, those brain cells have been dead for a VERY long time. _VERY_ long. YamiElfFromKemet, that's something I must say that I've never heard before. Remember, though, this is the first dynasty. The second TRUE pharaoh of Egypt. And because of all of their superstitions, and the fact that not many could read or write, the documents claiming that there might have been slaves back then might have been lost. I must admit that I didn't do research on their culture, just their mythology, as religion has a huge impact on everyday lives.  
  
Jade: We'd probably keep the slaves any way. It's a fascinating subject to write about. The way the human mind deals with such complications, and the mind frame of the slave drivers. Very enrapturing.  
  
Silver Lily: Please enjoy!!!  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
It was ghastly to watch it, the way she moved over the stones as if she did not even touch them, and the way that everything, even the wisps of her hair blown this way and that by the breeze, seemed somehow under her command. . .  
  
-Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The smell of dust and sweat bombarded his nostrils, filling them with a rank odor royalty were so unaccustomed to. Wind and breezes played about his golden-toned flesh, pulling playfully at his golden crown of bangs, forcing his rigid hair to move. Blinding sunlight was dimmed by the forming dust clouds, caused by the ever moving enslaved who were caked with mud, dirt, and their own blood. The whips cracked ceaselessly.  
  
The groans and creaks of tools and carts continually rolled by, rope and pulley systems ever on the move.  
  
He hated it.  
  
The sights, the smells, the foul language and the blinding sunlight, somehow dimmed in the arid valley. He absolutely despised it.  
  
The head slave driver, some burly fat man by the name of Ketu, sat ranting at the heals of the advisors, demanding to speak with the pharaoh. 'These slaves are worthless,' his scratchy voiced droned on. 'I need something better brought in. Ship in some of those nomads from the east, they should do quite nicely.' A disgusting grin played about his sweat streaked, dirty face. Yu Gi Oh could smell the reek of liquor pouring off him in disgusting heaps. Even the flies would pass him by for something better.  
  
Yu Gi Oh was bored with him, and found even more how much he was hating this place. And he was going to be buried out here?  
  
"Enough," his baritone voice cried. The slave driver stopped, dumbfounded it seemed at hearing his ruler speak. The sure strength in the kings voice, the respect it commanded and the surety in its unwavering echo, his feeble brain felt as though it wouldn't have the capacity to hear it again.  
  
"The slaves that you have are fine. When production slows and they have worn out their good use, they will be freed and new one's will be brought in. Is that understood?"  
  
Ketu, with his greasy black hair and beady little eyes, shook his fat little head in compliance. The pharaoh sounded annoyed. Invoking the wrath of the Pharaoh was not something he wanted to do right now. Or ever, for that matter.  
  
"Do you see him, Lover?" The sweet whisper of his other half tickled his ears.  
  
"No, beloved. Not yet."  
  
"Do you think that he could be here?" Her voice, soft, sweet and melodic, questioned him with an unusual quaver. Sending her comforting thoughts he replied.  
  
"I don't know. I've never done anything like this before."  
  
Her gray-blue eyes scanned incredulously, meticulously, and dubiously over the crowd of slaves and hired workers. "He must be, where else could he have ended up?"  
  
Jade shook his brown head no. "I have no idea."  
  
They had made a decision long ago, in total and complete secret from the pharaoh.  
  
Yu Gi Oh's loneliness was getting out of hand. If ever he saw a couple hold hands, or exchange the briefest of intimate moments, he would spend days brooding. It was amazing that he wasn't insane at the sight of Jade and Selene every day.  
  
It was Aeyeta who had first mentioned actually _doing_ something about it. But what, they had no idea.  
  
That was when Jade stepped up.  
  
"We could split him," he had said, plain and simple.  
  
"And how do you propose we do that, and more importantly, _why _?" Kekeweht asked.  
  
"Finding a partner suitable for our friend would be no easy task, by any means. Especially here. But you know the tales about your ba and your ka. If we could split him now, I truly think that he wouldn't be so lonely anymore."  
  
"How are we supposed to split the Akh of the pharaoh?! We would have to be going against every rule ever made! Wouldn't it change him? His ability to give a balanced judgment? Would he be good? Or would the darkness rule him?" Tekutet had asked this, and he was quite right.  
  
It was a logical question, one that would be expected of him to ask. Tekutet was another Egyptian, with long curls of back hair playing at his shoulders, bright blue eyes that calculated every scrape of evidence, literature or fact that came in front of his pointed little nose. Quite trustworthy.  
  
"Those are easy enough to answer, I believe," Selene broke in. "The ka is the light, as we all now very well, while the ba is the dark. The ba acts as a guide in the after life. When they meet, the ka and the ba merge to become the Akh, which we all know about, too." All eight heads in the room nodded. "Pharaohs, however, are merged in life, in order to be the god among men. It is _necessary_ if they are to rule. Now, since this is so for Yu Gi Oh, it is possible to use a simple hex to separate them."  
  
"And I suppose that you have that hex," Natuwhet, another advisor with short black hair asked, with a touch of his usual sarcasm.  
  
The silver haired woman grinned. "Of course I do."  
  
"It won't be easy, though, once he's split I mean," Jade confided.  
  
"Why," Aeyeta asked.  
  
"Because when the ka splits from Yu Gi Oh, as we believe that his ba is the ruling part of his body and mind frame, he will end up somewhere outside of the palace walls, with no memory, and no name. Most likely he will and up as a slave, and we'll need to be on the look out for him," Selene explained, quite gravely.  
  
"Well, this just sucks," Kekeweht growled.  
  
And so, all of the advisors were on the lookout, for whatever they might find. The look-alike had to be around here somewhere. He just had to be!  
  
Aeyeta looked at the back of the king as he lightly conversed with the architects, directing them in the fashions that he had in mind for his tomb, and the types of traps that he would want set for thieves. She, too, was looking everywhere, but saw nothing that might resemble the king of the Dark Games.  
  
She hadn't noticed it at first, lost in her search. But it's amazing, how what you're looking for can be right under your nose, and you'd never even see it.  
  
Her mentor saw it before she did, dashing as fast as her legs could carry her.  
  
A small, seemingly insignificantly heap lay on the ground in one huge convulsion. One of the slave drivers was standing over it, yelling at it to get up and start working again, lashing the black leather whip over and over.  
  
"STOP!!!" the woman had cried.  
  
At first, upon hearing a female voice, he was going to yell at her to leave him to his work. However, seeing a flash of white and gold, cleaned and primped with delicate light skin, he recognized her rank.  
  
But that didn't stop him.  
  
He continued to beat the poor thing on the ground, so covered in mud and dirt, his own blood spurting out of him in gushing torrents, even his own mother might not have been able to identify him.  
  
Not that he could remember having a mother.  
  
"Leave him alone!" Selene cried out viciously. Frantic, she placed herself between the battered slave and that infernal whip.  
  
The holder of it wasn't deterred.  
  
He went in to leave a mark on her perfect skin, make her get out of his way. No one had a right to step in and help the scum beneath the hooves of the pharaoh's horses.  
  
Selene summoned very easily the abilities she wanted, stopping the slim piece of leather inches before her face. The air around her cracked and hissed, a strange presence that felt like it was going to strangle the malicious man.  
  
Invisible hands, hundred of them it must have been, forced him on his back, pushing his yards and yards away from this powerful woman. A woman!  
  
Unveiled anger raged in her eyes, which were now a vivid blue. Energies from nodes deep beneath their feet flowed from her, knocking the wind and the sense out of the bastard that dared to defy her, silver and white with prisms in its wake. Liquid light.  
  
Jade and never seen her this angry.  
  
Those pathetic sobs filled her ears, though, drawing her back to the problem at hand. The bloody, sniveling heap that was swarming with pain.  
  
She found what she was looking for.  
  
With infinitely gentle hands she took hold of the tiny mass, cradling him in her arms. She didn't care if her clothes were becoming soiled. She didn't care if his stark-red blood was staining her hands.  
  
The young slave looked up at this strange creature, this woman that had saved him. Lovingly she stroked his cheek, whispering soothing words to him in multiple languages. Only one he understood.  
  
How strange this woman was. These bright blue eyes, tinted with the lightest of grays, burning with life such as which he had never seen in a living creature. Her soft, luminescent skin and her flowing, cloud like silver hair, she was exotic. So different from the normal kind of Egypt. She was beautiful.  
  
Her voice, it, it was like crystal bells chiming in a sweet, untouchable harmony. She seemed to practically create her own utopia or paradise for those around her.  
  
She was the kindest person he had ever met.  
  
"It's all right, little love. Calm down. You're safe now, and you will be for the rest of your days. I promise." She looked at his wide violet eyes, brimming with ignorant bliss. She had found the ka. She was holding the light.  
  
Jade lazily walked over, not at all surprised at what just happened. He knew that she could handle herself, and if the ka was in danger of dying any time soon, well, she'd be in an all out panic right now.  
  
And she wasn't.  
  
Yu Gi Oh had walked over, seeing Selene holding a brown mass in her arms. He smiled inside. My, how she loved saving the young slaves!  
  
Jade looked at him, ready to make his formal request. This usually wasn't permitted often, as they would quickly loose all of the slaves were they able to be picked off at random. And they were technically his.  
  
Any removal would have to be personally okayed by him.  
  
"Pharaoh Yu Gi Oh, this slave is obviously inadequate in duties as a labor slave. I humbly request that you allow him to serve whoever will take him at the palace, doing menial work as told."  
  
He couldn't help but laugh. "Of course, of course. So be it."  
  
They all wanted to get back home.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: HEHEH!!!! Well, that chapter was a bit longer than usual, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Just wait until next time. . . *grins* R&R! 


	4. Recognize Yourself?

Silver Lily: Wee!!!! Another chappie!!! *happy dances*  
  
Yami Yugi: Tell me what happens!!! Please? *puppy eyes*  
  
Jade: Sorry, pharaoh, it's just not the same unless it's coming from Little Yugi.  
  
Yugi: Ha!  
  
Silver Lily: Well, I do not own Yu Gi Oh!, sadly, because if I did all of the characters would hook up like all of the girls want that write and read yaoi fics. *wistful dreaming*  
  
Jade: *gagging noises*  
  
Silver Lily: *glares* On with the fic.  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Like the sphere that is perfect, with no beginning and no end, so is my being. Eternal and incomprehensible, it is I that am the enigma. The universe and the stars and the earths beyond earth, ever changing and ever the same. I am the light.  
  
-The Trinity of Light  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Fragrance the likes of which he never had dreamed could exist wafted around his senses. Steaming water filled with bubbles that were oddly soft floated around him, his damp hair thick with soap.  
  
"What did you call this stuff again?"  
  
That strange, exotic woman that found him laughed. "It's called shampoo. It has quite a fair market value for trade. We usually exchange it for the tasty olive oil of Greece. Foot."  
  
In reply, he lifted his left foot out of the water, allowing her to take hold. Delicately, she ran a small sponge over his tender skin and cleaned it of the blood and dirt.  
  
Such an odd turn of events this day had been. He woke up this morning, realizing that his life would probably forever be as it was. That slave driver was cruel, the other slaves ridiculed him for his petite stature, and that infernal sun was always beating down upon him. Even worse was the night time. It was so cold, so dry, and he had but the clothes on his back to keep him warm.  
  
Two weeks of memory. Some life. Amnesia, they had said he possessed. Someone went so far as to say that Set had a strong hold on him.  
  
The young slave learned quickly that he didn't like this Set.  
  
The silver haired woman placed his foot pack in the warm bath water and waited for his other one.  
  
Suddenly, he was curious about something. "Do you have a name?"  
  
She smiled at his naïve question. Most of the other slaves probably didn't have a name either. However, they just couldn't remember what is was. They knew that at one time they had one, though. Unlike this young slave who had _no_ memory at all. "Yes, my name is Selene. In Greek mythology Selene is the moon, who hopelessly fell in love with the handsome Endymion, but couldn't have him." She giggled. "Of course, the emerging Roman religion calls her Luna."  
  
The small one's head was spinning. This woman, this beautiful creature, she must be filled with mounds of information! She must contain some sort of fountain of knowledge!  
  
"Does every one around here know as much as you?" he asked tentatively.  
  
She laughed again. Gods, her laugh. Crystal chimes. "Depending on what you want them to know."  
  
She was finished with his legs, now contenting herself with his hair. It felt good to have her fingers run through his drenched tresses, some sort of massage that he probably didn't deserve.  
  
"Are you my master? Will I get a name?"  
  
He didn't expect her to growl. "I don't like the term 'master.' Please don't use it. As for a name, that's not my place to give you one. I am not the one you will be spending most of your time with. After your bath, we will be going to the pharaoh's chambers."  
  
The child visibly shivered. "The pharaoh?"  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
"I-the tales that the slave drivers told. They said they would feed us to his monsters that he keeps locked up in the dungeon. That the- he would come in our sleep and crush our souls into nothingness. . ." The slave broke off in muffles sobs.  
  
Delicate arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Those are lies, Little Love. Never believe them. He is one of my best friends, and I can promise you that he will never, _ever_ hurt you. Or any one else for that matter. If ever there is a time that he is angry, it is because of the power hungry people that he has to deal with every day and keep under control."  
  
"Promise?" the young one whispered.  
  
"With all my heart."  
  
She finished rinsing his hair.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Sweat visibly poured down his brow, golden bangs clinging mercilessly to his skin. He grunted, thrusting his saber in attack once again.  
  
"Come on, Yu Gi Oh, I know that you have more in you than that!" The green eyed Greek taunted.  
  
"You drive a hard lesson, advisor."  
  
The brunette struck out in attack again, renewed vigor and stamina behind every blow. "I've had to train with my other half, what do you expect? She'd be calling me lazy by now if I gave out."  
  
The king of Thebes growled again. "My training just started a week ago!"  
  
"All the more reason to keep going! Push you limits to their fullest extent. And when you're about to collapse, keep going!" The iron blades collided more.  
  
Sheer will forced him on.  
  
"We can't allow our beloved ruler to become inactive like his father, nothing but skin and bones. We have to keep you active and put muscles on your frame!"  
  
"So I'm told, but I don't see any improvement yet."  
  
"Give it about a month or so."  
  
The sweat continued to erupt in torrents from his pores, though he tried to ignore it. He would _definitely_ need a bath tonight. Silently he hoped that Selene might have it poured for him already.  
  
"Alright, my friends. I think that your activities are done for the evening." The pharaoh turned to see a strawberry blonde apprentice standing in the doorway, arms crossed. Of course, in doing this, allowed his guard to drop. The flat of a blade connected with his thigh.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Hey yourself! You let your guard drop!" Jade smiled in a friendly manner.  
  
"You just wait until next time, I'll wipe that smirk off your face."  
  
"I look forward to it."  
  
Utterly exauhsted, the ruler gave his weapon to the Greek and headed to the doorway. 'Thank you,' he mouthed gratefully at Aeyeta.  
  
"My pleasure," she whispered back.  
  
The setting sun stained the horizon in a violent red, fading in the high sky into a royal purple. Yes, a bath and bed was exactly what he needed.  
  
It wasn't long until Jade had caught up with the two of them walking to his chambers. "I think I can find well enough on my own, you know."  
  
"Nope, I had no idea," Jade replied mater-of-factly.  
  
He sighed, turning the corner of the hall that led to his room. He certainly didn't expect to see Selene standing outside of his door, arms folded and a knowing smirk about her lips.  
  
The pharaoh narrowed his purple eyes suspiciously. "What are you plotting?"  
  
The silver haired woman gave a fake look of hurt. "Oh, you think that _I_ would be plotting something? Against my secret boyfriend the pharaoh? How could you even _think_ such a thing?"  
  
He gave a mixture of a scoff and a laugh. "I'm not fooled by you, my lady rose hiding her thorns."  
  
She smiled. "Your bath is waiting for you."  
  
Still knowing that she was up to something, probably with the rest of their little group behind her, he opened his chamber door, walked in, and closed it.  
  
Aeyeta smiled. "How long do you think it will take him to notice?"  
  
Jade rubbed his nails against his shirt. "I'd say in about three, two, one. . ."  
  
They heavy oaken doors, expensive as such wood was rare in Egypt, flew opened and a wide eyed ruler, covered in perspiration, stood starring wildly at the three people standing outside of his door with grins plastered on their faces.  
  
"What the, . . .who is, . . .why is there. . . what going on?" he demanded.  
  
Selene laughed. "Isn't it amazing how that poor slave you let me take home today looks so much like you? I'm so sorry to impose this upon you, my liege, but he simply wouldn't be safe in any other room but yours. How many might want to take advantage of a young slave with no name that looks so much like their king? The medjai will keep a very good eye on him, as I'm sure that you know. And only your closest allies are allowed in there at all. No problems with intruding strangers."  
  
That grin still didn't leave her face.  
  
"You planned this somehow. I know you did. 'Take advantage of?'" he lowered his voice to almost a hiss. "How do you expect me to keep my hands off of what's in there?" For emphasis, he pointed behind him to the occupied bed.  
  
Jade shrugged. "We're sure that you can handle it."  
  
Yu Gi Oh growled, snarled, and grunted. "You wait, I'll find out how you managed to pull this off. Just wait. I'll. . ." he turned around stalking off to his room.  
  
"Have fun, dear heart!" Selene called back.  
  
The king closed the door, looking back at his doll-replica on the bed. Purple eyes looked back at him, the Egyptian sun glowing faintly behind him.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: HEHEHEH!!!! Yeah!!! Another down! *victory dances*  
  
Jade: Scary. R&R people. 


	5. Tainted Wine

Silver Lily: *insane giggles*  
  
Jade: I think all of these fan fictions are going to her head.  
  
Yami Yugi: Tread carefully, any who actually decide to read this. You might be permanently damaged.  
  
Silver Lily: I really don't think he's joking, either. *talks to self* GO COOL RUNNINGS!!!! *cheers*  
  
Jade: *quirks eyebrow* Something is seriously wrong. . .  
  
Silver Lily: *giggles* Enjoy the fic!!!!  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new. I don't know who you are, but I'm with you.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The young slave gazed warily at the room's new occupant. His face was in the shadowy recesses of the entrance, but his body was illuminated by the glow of the setting sun. A sense of mystery added, not being able to see his eyes.  
  
He really didn't want to, but the slave couldn't help but stare at the moisture covered body. The pharaoh's flesh was flushed and bright with color, newly developed muscles moving under his skin. His sculpted chest was heaving slightly with un-normally heavy breaths. The wind was sucked out of the young slave, a strange feeling taking hold.  
  
Yu Gi Oh, on the other hand, was starring at some sort of painted doll sitting on his bed. Wide eyes, pools of bliss ignorance and yet wise caution looked at him like a frightened bird. The morning star could practically see his tiny replica flittering away. He advanced slowly, and the young slave withdrew to himself on instinct. The pharaoh stopped, a questioning gaze ingrained in his eyes.  
  
"Selene said you wouldn't hurt me," a sweet voice spoke, barely above a whisper.  
  
"Selene has never lied, in all of the time that I have known her."  
  
"She said that you were really nice."  
  
Yu Gi Oh chuckled. "She has a high opinion of me."  
  
The little one on the bed cocked his head to the side at the reply, but said nothing. The king of Thebes walked over to a table at the other end of the room, reaching a basin full of warm water. He washed his face clean of the formal make up that he had to wear every day. The glare from Re-Atum could be bad even for him.  
  
"Are you my new master," the voice reached out to his ears. The king turned around and frowned, pouring himself a glass of wine. "My name is Yu Gi Oh, master isn't necessary." Of course it was tradition, but it didn't mean that he liked the tittle any more. In fact, he practically loathed its use.  
  
"I'm going to take a bath, little one. I won't be long." And with that the taller one of the room retreated through a door adjoining the chambers.  
  
True to his word, he wasn't long, back before the Eye had even completely set. The wide violet eyes tried to focus themselves else where when the glistening body came back out, the candle light playing tricks on the deliciously tanned skin.  
  
"I suppose that most of your nights were spent pretty cold, weren't they?"  
  
The slave nodded silently.  
  
"I promise that you won't be cold anymore." The pharaoh advanced to the side of the bed, deep purple eyes starring wildly at the tall figure. What was he going to do? The slave remembered quite well those few nights when the slave drivers would advance on him. The only reason that he was never touched was because of one of the men, some one named Honda, always stepped up and protected him. Said that he was far too young to touch. Whatever the excuse, he was grateful.  
  
He scooted further on the bed, falling into the depths of the feather pillows. "It's all right, little one. You've been told I wouldn't hurt you, and I won't. I'm just very tired, and desperately need some sleep. The Egyptian night is usually warmer when spent next to someone, maybe the both of us won't be so cold anymore." And with that, the pharaoh slipped under the covers and closed his eyes. He was right. He didn't seem to even want to touch his shorter version.  
  
'So this is it', the slave thought. 'I get the be the pharaoh's personal bed warmer. Oh well, better than the whip.' He slipped in along side of his taller look alike and went into a much needed sleep.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The slave woke up the next morning at the sound of the chamber doors creaking open. The curtains had graciously kept out the obtrusive light of the rising Eye, allowing the two to sleep longer. My, it was so warm. Cozy was the best word he could think of to describe this sensation. What was it that could produce so much heat?  
  
The thick curtains flew open, and those wide purple eyes realized that they were nearly pressed against a muscular tanned chest. Sometime during the night, the pharaoh's arms became latched around his china doll replica. He wasn't sure if he should pull away from the still snoring king, or stay where he was in case of getting struck at.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, time to rise. We have many a court hearing to attend to today. Then, if we have time for it, we _must_ start planning for Heru Behutet. Yu Gi Oh, wake up!" Selene tried desperately to reach the ruler's ears. He seemed to merely grunt and nuzzle his face further into the tresses of the new slave.  
  
Both of the bed's occupants gasped when the blanket was ripped off, feeling the cold air hit them in a violent wave. Instead of moving, though, the morning star held on tighter the only warmth left, his smaller duplicate.  
  
"Oh, for the love of Isis!" Selene cried in exasperation. "I know your up, pharaoh, now MOVE!"  
  
No response.  
  
No problem.  
  
The silver haired woman grabbed hold of her king's ankle and pulled. Now his eyes shot open, dragging with him the young slave. Of course, he just fell off the end of the bed onto the pile of blankets on the floor with a big 'OOF!', the slave on top of him. His duplicate laughed when Yu Gi Oh pulled the tangle of blankets over his head.  
  
"All right, that's it, you asked for it this time, god among men."  
  
Yu Gi Oh looked wildly around when he felt his body leave solid ground. The advisor slash sorceress levitated him about four feet into the air, flipping him upside down.  
  
"Selene, put me down!"  
  
"Oh, no, not this time. I told you that you asked for it."  
  
The young slave watched bewildered as the two left and entered into the door leading to the bathing room and heard a splash, followed by the unmistakable scream of the Pharaoh of Thebes.  
  
"T-this is f-freezing!!"  
  
The woman in the wash room laughed. "Maybe next time you'll get up when you're told!"  
  
It wasn't long until the two entered again, many grumbles later, wet hair and new clothes for the day in hand. The slave watched curiously as Selene helped the king to get ready for the day, chatting about their schedule. She applied that thick eye makeup to his face and fixed his gold head band with the eye of Horus on it just right.  
  
"Heru Behutet you said?"  
  
"That's right. Preparations for the Mesore started last night."  
  
"Gods, I hate this time of year."  
  
"Oh, it won't be that bad. Aeyeta seems to have a real knack for planning this stuff. We'll have a bit more time on our hands, this time."  
  
"Was a falcon found for the sacrifice?"  
  
"It was either that or a hawk. I think the priests found one. We'll have to check with Seth."  
  
The king shuddered. "How fun."  
  
What where they talking about? Heru Behutet? Mesore? What is that? "What's 'Heru Behutet?' And 'Mesore'?" the slave asked.  
  
"The great festival that we hold ever year. Mesore is the first day of it, where a falcon or hawk is sacrificed to Horus to ensure a good growing season and a good harvest come fall time. It's really a lot of fun, the different activities that are planned," Selene filled in.  
  
"Are you doing the opening dance this year again?" Yu Gi Oh grinned. Selene glared. "I guess that I don't have too much of a choice, now, do I?"  
  
The king chuckled.  
  
"Aeyeta will be in here shortly with some breakfast for you, little love. The pharaoh must have his meals with his advisors everyday. I'll be back in later to give you a tour around the palace." Those blue gray eyes looked at the young one kindly, and he nodded. He could hear Yu Gi Oh ask her a question as they left.  
  
"Any shadow games, today?"  
  
"No, no time. Tomorrow there might be some, if the festival schedules don't go on too dreadfully long. . ." her voice drifted down the hall, and out of reach.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Well, the same thing happened that night. And the night after that, and the night after that. The pharaoh would come in after his swordsman practice, sweaty and tired, take a bath and go to bed without hardly a word to the new slave. Yu Gi Oh figured that if he could somehow avoid conversation, he would stop it from leading to other things. Like taking advantage of something so much smaller than him. Of course, Selene would find them a finger's width closer every morning.  
  
It was driving her and Jade crazy.  
  
Selene battered her head against a wall, kicking vigorously with her foot at the same time.  
  
"Don't hurt the wall, dear. Your head is thicker than you think."  
  
She growled, choosing not to respond to that statement. "Gods, our pharaoh is so damned stubborn! He's driving me insane! That poor boy, he's barely even talked to him, beyond civil conversation. He's turned into a glorified bed warmer!" She proceeded to hit her head against the wall again. Then finally loosing the stamina to do that any more, slumped onto the floor. "Key to my heart, what are we going to do?"  
  
"Love of my life, we have been looking every where for the answer. Maybe it's time that we let the answer come to us."  
  
Selene buried her head in her hands.  
  
"Hey, look what I found!"  
  
"Huh?" Selene looked up to see a dark blue bottle of. . .something, pushed in front of her face.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Aeyeta smiled. "I bought if off of some peddler down in the market today. He said that it's wine from the land of milk and honey."  
  
"Jerusalem?" Jade asked.  
  
Selene took the bottle and looked at it incredulously. "Isn't wine bought down in the harbor from the trade ships?"  
  
Aeyeta shrugged. "It was at a decent price. I figured why not?"  
  
"What kind of wine is it?"  
  
"Not sure."  
  
"Well, instead of talking about it, why don't we open it up and try it?" All three looked up to see Yu Gi Oh standing next to Kekeweht. Selene shrugged, handing the bottle to Jade. "Why not?"  
  
The Greek popped the cork open, pouring a glass for each person. Kekeweht sat at the table in the center of the room, smelling the bouquet of the deep purple substance. He nearly choked. "This stuff stinks!!"  
  
Selene said the same. The pharaoh decided to be the brave one and try it. Nearly suffocating on his own tongue, he managed to swallow it. "I think the flavor is worse. What is this stuff?"  
  
Selene held her glass up to her face while reaching for the bottle. Upon looking at the fine print on the label, she spit out the substance. Not because of the flavor, but because of what she read.  
  
"Aeyeta, you don't read Aramaic, do you?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
Selene nearly burst out laughing, while Jade started rolling on the floor after his inspection. "It, it says: "Caution. Aphrodisiac. Suggested dose, one spoon full." Now she couldn't help but laugh, while the blood drained from the king's face.  
  
"And how much did you have, dear heart? Five or six?"  
  
Kekeweht caught on, in as much hysterics as Jade.  
  
Selene got up and kissed the apprentice on the forehead. "My good friend, I thank you for not being able to read the language." She collapsed on the floor with violent laughter.  
  
"Oh, no. This is not good. I-I can't go back to my room! I've had to bite nails to keep myself under control for the past week! What am I going to do now?" Yu Gi Oh was in a mixture of rage, confusion, and a violent blush. He got no response out of the hysterical group.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The young slave looked at the chamber door as it opened, expecting to see as usual an exhausted ruler covered in sweat. It made him nuts how he some how knew, deep down, that he wouldn't be able to do anything else but sleep next to it.  
  
Tonight was different, though.  
  
The pharaoh's deep purple eyes looked at him intently from the doorway, covered in a haze that the slave didn't recognize. At least, not yet, anyway.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Ooh, cliffie!!! HEHEHEHEH!!! R&R!!! *sing song voice* 


	6. To the Power of Three?

Silver Lily: Lime-aid, anyone?  
  
Yami Yugi: O, I'll take some!  
  
Jade: Dirty pharaoh. . .  
  
Silver Lily: Here it is everyone. . . the eagerly awaited end to the evil cliffie I left for you. . . enjoy. *giggles*  
  
No, I don't own Yu Gi Oh! either. I'd probably get in a lot of trouble with Kids WB if I did.  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
It is here, in the first ring of Hell, that the lustful and the submitters to the pleasures of flesh reside. Speak easy to them, as they are in misery, ever searching for the peace that they cannot have. . .  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The young slave sat on the oversized bed, starring wildly at the one who had just walked in. The king's deep purple eyes, ever calculating and ever formulating, analyzing and observing, bore down intently upon his china doll replica. They weren't calculating right now. They weren't meticulously scanning every detail around him. They were fixated, a fire raging in them has a fire has never raged before on earth or the Christian Hell. It sent delightful shivers down the slave's spine.  
  
Slowly, deliberately, he advanced to bed. Feline grace etched in every curve, yet strong as the mighty Osiris. Few candles illuminated the now dark chamber, each beam cascading over the sensuously tanned skin. 'Oh, gods', the little one thought. 'Look at him. Just look at him! He's beautiful. It's no wonder they call him a god, the Morning Star, the revered one and Messiah of his people.'  
  
This creature with unearthly grace, regality and stamina placed himself directly at the bed's edge, ever so slowly bending down closer and closer to his look-alike. An eternity seemed to ensue, practically painful to the pharaoh. He _wanted_ this one. _ Badly _. He had wanted to hold and stroke the thick, velvety tresses since the moment he laid eyes on him. But he couldn't. Though he would never admit it, probably even to himself, he was afraid that the boy would plead and beg him to not touch him, that he would scream in agony if he were to be forced upon.  
  
And if the pharaoh weren't in his induced state as he was now, he would still be thinking that. Obviously, however, this wasn't the case.  
  
Finally, the painful gap between the two of them was closed as the pharaoh laid himself down upon the young slave, nuzzling the hollow of his neck. The smell that bombarded his sent receptors was something he couldn't quite place. Vanilla, perhaps, and maybe something else abit more exotic.  
  
The slave felt kisses rain over his flesh, warm and soft. Even if he had wanted to, he knew there was no fighting this. Ever. And besides, he didn't want to. The kisses moved to his jaw-line, then his cheek bone, nose and forehead.  
  
The little one held tightly to the king's shoulders. This wasn't enough. Apparently, that was all the encouragement the pharaoh needed.  
  
He pressed his lips hungrily against the young slave, and tiny bolts of lighting ensued. His flesh tingled with an incredible sensation, his senses teeming with excitement. He didn't have to ask for entrance, he was readily accepted. Velvet tongue memorizing ever crevice of the sweat, warm cavern.  
  
The kiss ended just as quickly, and the slave whimpered in response.  
  
The pharaoh was breathing heavily in anticipation, but he had to know something. He placed his lips at the little one's ear and whispered in a husky voice. "What is your name?" The hot breath tickled.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Yu Gi Oh never asked until now, believing that if he knew, it would only cause them to become that much closer.  
  
In his reply, each word was dripping with emotion, each syllable precisely and explicitly discernable from the other. "Because I want to know what to scream."  
  
The slave moaned softly at thinking of what was to come, shivering with the response.  
  
"I-I don't have a name."  
  
The morning star stopped for a moment, deep in thought. "Yuugi," he breathed.  
  
That was all the more talk that he wanted.  
  
His mouth, his lips, his tongue became a tool as he worked his way down the delicate, smooth flesh, clothes falling in its wake.  
  
The slave, who now had a name, gave himself over completely to his king and master. Soft and yet strong hands roamed his body, moving ever further down. He hadn't noticed that neither of them wore clothes anymore.  
  
He felt his legs moved open, and felt himself become engulfed inside of that delicious cavern that belonged to the pharaoh. He cried out in delight.  
  
Shivers ran all over him, goose bumps frenzying on his skin.  
  
Yu Gi Oh looked up, spotting a couple of bottles of scented oil on the bedside table. He moved closer to it, picked one up and smelt it. Yes, this one will do nicely.  
  
"Don't stop," Yuugi pleaded.  
  
The pharaoh grinned, sticking his fingers into the bottle. "Oh, the evening is far from over. . .  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Selene carefully pushed open the doors of the pharaoh's chambers as quietly as she could, plate of food in hand. As she suspected, the two inside were still very sound asleep.  
  
She walked in, softly closing the door behind her. She ginned to herself, seeing her good friend firmly placed on top of his smaller self, arm wrapped possessively around the shoulder that he couldn't sleep on top of. His face was nuzzled happily into the silky hair of the slave.  
  
The little one, on the other hand, was safely nestled beneath the king of Thebes, contentedly in blissful sleep.  
  
As much as she hated to disturb them, they needed to eat something. It was noon, for goodness sake.  
  
She placed the tray on the bed side table and seated herself on the edge of the bed. She placed a hand on Yu Gi Oh's shoulder, gently rousing him.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, wake up. You need to eat something."  
  
He moaned, tightening his already strong death grip on the young one next to him. "Go back to sleep, Yuugi."  
  
So, that's what he finally named him. 'Finally!" Selene thought.  
  
Yuugi groaned, moving his face closer to the morning star's chest. "Hmm," he mumbled.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh," Selene tried again.  
  
Now his violet eyes opened, a murderous glare behind them. Couldn't she find one day to leave him? Did he _always_ have to go to his duties? Didn't he get at lest one day a year when he could have some peace?  
  
"Wake up Yu Gi Oh, I brought food for the two of you. I moved all of your appointments back until tomorrow, too."  
  
The king looked at her gratefully, shameful at his previous thought. "Thank you," he whispered.  
  
"You're welcome," she mouthed back. "A bath has been poured for you, too, when you're ready."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Yu Gi Oh ran the wet sponge over Yuugi's bare chest, thick with soap. The food that the silver-haired advisor had brought was absolutely delicious, and none of the wine was tainted as it had been the night before.  
  
The slave sighed, leaning in to the taller's embrace. The bath water was blessedly warm and comforting to his sore abdomen, hips and spine.  
  
"Feeling better, little one?"  
  
"A little."  
  
The two of them had spent the whole afternoon talking to each other about anything and everything that came across their minds. Yuugi knew very little about the world around him, so little memory for him to fall back on. The pharaoh was only too happy to explain things to him.  
  
He told of his daily duties, to the history of his staff of advisors, right down to his own childhood and what his parents were like.  
  
Yu Gi Oh stood up and got out of the tub, grabbing a towel for himself and Yuugi.  
  
The young slave tried to stand, but the pain shot up through his back like an angry arrow again. The king supported him out of the water and into the bedroom.  
  
"It still hurts," he said.  
  
"I know, little one. Stay here for a moment." Yu Gi Oh placed him on the bed and went to the door, peaking out from behind it. Just as he thought, there were two medjai standing guard outside.  
  
"Send word for Selene to come," he said.  
  
The white-garbed male on the right nodded, heading of down the hall.  
  
It wasn't long until the advisor stood in his room, waiting for him to tell her what was wrong.  
  
"Selene, you're the best healer that is here. Please, can you ease his pain a bit? It's not a direct wound, but just an immense soreness, most healers couldn't place it like fatal wounds."  
  
She nodded her head, suppressing her smile. "Of course, my liege. I'll help."  
  
She sat down on the bed next to Yuugi and helped him to roll onto his stomach.  
  
"This will probably tickle a little, bit it won't be for long."  
  
He nodded.  
  
Selene placed her hands two to three finger widths from the small one's hips, concentrating with closed eyes. A soft gold light emanated forth. Then she proceeded to move her fingers above his spine, allowing the energies to flow forth.  
  
Yuugi felt an immediate relief, and sighed. It tickled a little, yes, but in overall actuality it felt rather good. Comforting and relaxing.  
  
Suddenly the golden warmth left, and Yuugi sat up with great ease. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "It wasn't so bad after the first time, but it was the next two that seemed to really make me sore."  
  
Her blue-gray eyes whirled around and landed on the king of Thebes. "Three," she mouthed.  
  
He blushed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Selene didn't say anything, but nodded, sending him a mental reply that he would get _no_ more outside help from a mysterious bottle of oddly labeled wine.  
  
"If you need me, dear heart, you know where I am."  
  
He nodded in thank you, and saw her off out the chamber doors.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Well, there is just about as much fluff as I can stuff in to one chapter. Hope you liked! Please R&R, and next time- Yu Gi Oh and the rest of Egypt prepare for the Mesore. What happens afterwards, and what is it that the apprentice foresees? Wait till then. . . 


	7. You Saw it Coming

Silver Lily: La, la, la, hear we are!  
  
Jade: Chapter seven. Oh joy, oh rapture. . .  
  
Silver Lily: Sarcastic yamis. Any way, hope that you like, please R&R!  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
We are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams. And yet, we are the movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
The Greek sighed, pacing vigorously back and forth in his chambers. Golden sunlight streamed through the ever open windows, sand adorning the neglected tables.  
  
"Lover, what is the matter? You've been rather aloof lately. Tell me what's wrong?" Selene sat on their bed, starring worriedly at her better half.  
  
"Something is wrong, beloved. A shadow has been hanging over my head for the past three days, foreboding something I don't even want to guess at."  
  
He kept walking back and forth, hands clutched behind him. Selene sighed. He had been at this for two hours now.  
  
"I just feel so helpless. I know something is wrong, but I don't even know what or how I can fix it!"  
  
Words, words of comfort. That was what he needed right now. Someone that could sympathize with him. He was never in the position of where he couldn't do a damned thing, and that is what drove him nuts.  
  
"Has anyone else felt this?"  
  
"No, just growing suspicion of their enemies. No, this. . . this is something that I'm _feeling_ deep down inside. It's gnawing at my very insides, and I don't know what to do."  
  
"The Mesore should help to relax you. After nightfall I will dance for the city. You always say that my dance comforts you."  
  
He sighed exasperated. "I hope you're right, lover. I hope you're right."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Ready?" The pharaoh of Thebes stood in the empty hall, awaiting his closest advisors.  
  
"Ready, my lord," Selene replied, pulling behind her a disgruntled looking Greek. "Lover, you know that I don't like the sacrifice," he whined.  
  
"Most of us don't, silly Greek. But it's tradition, and all of us have to be there," Kekeweht replied.  
  
Aeyeta groaned. "That poor bird! If I controlled the wind element, I'd be tempted to blow it away to safety."  
  
"The priests would have a fit if you did that," Selene said.  
  
Yuugi stood warily next to Yu Gi Oh, not liking the idea of the yearly sacrifice to Horus to ensure a good crop. The pharaoh promised that it would get better after that, but the slave was still skeptical.  
  
"This way," Tekutet motioned. "To the front of the palace."  
  
It was almost like walking to your own eulogy, Selene always thought. To stand out in the middle of the scorching desert sun, sweat pouring down your face and sand blowing into your eyes. No one really wanted to go, but it was tradition. And it was considered polite. A beautiful creature screeching into its death. She hated it. Completely and totally hated it.  
  
Yu Gi Oh had become immune to such things when he was younger, as did the other native Egyptians.  
  
Seth seemed to actually thrive in such activities. A mad grin smothered on his too perfect face. Beauty always was a deceitful thing.  
  
The whole of Thebes, and even commoners and aristocrats from neighboring villages were gathered outside the palace wall, starring expectantly at the front of the alter of the high preist, and a small table covered in old, crusted blood.  
  
The pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt walked himself to the oversized throne that had been placed outside, the god who was sent to the mortal lands to watch over them and lead them. A beacon of strength and a pillar of ultimate authority not only for his people, but to other kingdoms not yet even discovered by the 'civilized' man. Yes, not just the pharaoh as a person, but merely his position alone had other emperors quivering in fear. His armies whose numbers reached thousands. His bountiful harvest that seemed to last year-round to those from the north. The endless amounts of papyrus and wheat and other goods that the first children of the earth reaped and sowed.  
  
Their unfathomable respect for the dead, and the strange obsession with it.  
  
Yuugi stood next to Selene, all of them standing away from the throne. No one was allowed over there.  
  
They were the closest to him, however.  
  
The crowd was hushed in silence when the high preist came out, garbed in his deep purple robes and a cage in hand. A creature was sitting silently inside of it, unaware of its impending doom.  
  
A piece of white linen lay covering the poor foul. Seth had a placid expression, believing this was the most important task one could ever undertake, and he was the one to do it. The weight of the world rested on his shoulders.  
  
All of the pharaoh's advisors snorted.  
  
Yuugi watched as the linen cloth was removed, and a blinded falcon was pulled forth. He could feel the silver haired woman next to him tense, a sharp breath sucked quickly into her lungs.  
  
The bird was completely white. Large, graceful wings lay neatly tucked next to its sides, talons long and sharp that could rip a man's arm off.  
  
"A gyre falcon," Selene breathed. "Where did he get one of those?"  
  
"What is it," the slave questioned her.  
  
"Yuugi, those birds are extremely rare, found only in the frozen lands of the very far north. Not even the natives of those lands dare to track these creatures."  
  
"This is a bad sign, lover. You know it is, I know you do."  
  
Selene nodded. The Egyptians did not like the thought of the north very well. They held that as the domain of Seth, the one that blinded Horus, and still does on the new moons. To bring such a creature from so far north, this was a slap in the face to the king. This was a warning.  
  
If he were any different, Jade would have laughed at the irony.  
  
Yuugi didn't want to watch when the ridiculously long blade was brought out, carved with ancient hieroglyphs and curses that secretly condemned his ruler, and hid his face in the soft white garments of the silver haired woman next to him when a sickening screech filled the air. She held him close to comfort him.  
  
She preferred her beloved Athens and the sacrifices to Athena and Artemis. The simple legs of lamb that they would burn instead of eating. Those delicious smells wafting to her nose while she sat around the evening campfire. She had often spent the days traveling on foot, learning as she went from place to place.  
  
Until she came here.  
  
It was over quicker than it had started, and the pharaoh stood and ordered in fine Egyptian to all of his people to enjoy the rest of the Mesore, and to please the gods throughout the whole of Heru Behutet.  
  
Evening came quickly for Selene. She didn't always like getting up in front of so many people. She was grateful when Yu Gi Oh restricted the watchers to a select few from the stronger families of Egypt.  
  
People began to come from as far as India and Tibet to see her dance.  
  
Yuugi stood next to the pharaoh itching with anticipation. His taller counterpart looked just as excited as him.  
  
"Where is she, how much longer?"  
  
The morning star laughed delightedly. "Calm down, little one, she will be here. Look, there she is now."  
  
From a black doorway emerged a woman that in all respects looked like a native Egyptian. Her skin was bronze with the golden hue, lithe arms and strong legs that held her frame with poise and dignity.  
  
But she was exotic in the fact that her hair was completely silver.  
  
White linen was wrapped around her in a tight skirt, bound with a gold chain. Trinkets clanked from her wrists and ankles, a slim covering of metal on her upper body.  
  
She always said that she felt like a painted doll with the black and gold makeup and symbolic designs covering her.  
  
In the middle of the crowd now she stood, so still she could have been Pandora before animation, carved from a piece of gold marble, hair strung from precious metals. Her hands were held behind her back, her head down and eyes closed, leg poised femininely, waiting.  
  
The drums started, and her legs began to move. She kept her arms unmoving, her head still down, but her feet pranced about as if she were a sprite from some child's fairytale.  
  
But Yuugi was enraptured when the haunting strings joined in. Her arms started to move, and her body swayed as if she were invoking the magick of some god or goddess long ago forgotten.  
  
"Why is her skin tanned," Yuugi wondered aloud.  
  
"It's a charm for the dance, you'll see why," the pharaoh replied.  
  
Selene, who was no longer Selene, but rather this dancer from a world not known to them, began to move her hands as if she were holding something fragile that might break if it were breathed upon. Her fingers tickled the empty air, shards of light responding to her beckon. Her stance, her downcast eyes concentrating on the air before her. Erotic and sensuous, yet lethal and planned. A spell was weaving about the room. None could leave, none could remove their eyes.  
  
Her dancing continued, the light growing larger and brighter in her hands. The music was speeding up, and the crowd was being drug right along with it. Yuugi felt his heart rate increase with anticipation.  
  
The air reeked with the surprise yet to come.  
  
Faster and faster she danced, the light growing stronger and stronger.  
  
And then she stopped. Arms held high above her, toes pointed, a statue yet again in the midst of a golden desert.  
  
Her hands flew down, and the ball of light exploded on the floor. The room was bathed in a silver illumination, filling every dark corner with a preternatural life.  
  
When Yuugi could see again, Selene was back in her own skin tone, her clothes now a white gown of some material he had never seen. Opaque and yet unrevealing, purposefully disheveled and the ends.  
  
She looked like a colorless wood fairy, lost and far away from her homeland.  
  
The floor was still bathed in that silver light, rippling along its way as if it were water.  
  
And the silver woman of light began to glide across it as if it was, and she could stand on it like it was ice. It was at this point that her song began.  
  
Low and soft at first, gradually gaining more volume. Haunting it was, but different from the drums and the strings that had just been plucked. Some language that he had never heard, filling his soul with thoughts of moonlit nights in tree filled groves.  
  
An invisible breeze moved her silver hair about her head, light pulled up around her as she moved.  
  
It splashed around if she jumped, or twirled, or turned. Beautiful.  
  
The song had ended. She had stopped, her arms up again and her back rigid. She was calling the light back to her, making it close in upon her and consume her. Just when she was almost beyond sight, she flung her arms down one last, and the light left, showers of gold raining down upon the viewers.  
  
Yuugi cheered. Yu Gi Oh smiled, and Jade was practically beaming.  
  
She ran up to her lover, tired and covered in perspiration, a smile displayed on her flushed face. He embraced her with a welcoming hug.  
  
"What language was that," Yuugi asked.  
  
"No one knows," Yu Gi Oh replied. "They don't speak it often, even to each other. This is the only time you will ever hear that much of it. They usually use it to converse in secret. Not even I know what it is."  
  
"You mean, it's not Greek?"  
  
"It's not Greek, it's not Hebrew, or Latin or Aramaic or even Etruscan. I have no idea."  
  
Well, now that was interesting. Yet another mystery in this strange land unchanged by time.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Yu Gi Oh nuzzled Yuugi's neck, content and sleepy. He always loved the day after the Mesore.  
  
He was allowed to sleep in.  
  
Yuugi was snoring methodically in his sleep, unconsciously clinging to his master.  
  
The pharaoh still had to get that preconception out of the little one's head.  
  
Yu Gi Oh did not hear the pounding that was resounding in the hall. He didn't want to. He wanted sleep right next to his china-doll replica.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, Yu Gi Oh!" His name was being repeated over and over again, panic dripping with each syllable.  
  
His chamber doors flew open, and Selene came flying in. Her hair was disheveled, her robes askew. "Yu Gi Oh, the preist has revolted!"  
  
The king let out a string of curses in every language he knew.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: OOO, cliffy!!! HEHEHEHE!!! R&R!!! *sing song voice* 


	8. Sleepless in Thebes

Silver Lily: Well, here it is. The end to the cliffie that I left last time.  
  
Jade: Just wait till you see what happens next.  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
"I see thee still; and on thy blade and dungeon gouts of blood, which was not so before."  
  
-William Shakespeare, Macbeth  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, the preist has revolted!"  
  
The pharaoh's eyes snapped open, a string of curses spewing forth in every language he knew.  
  
Selene ran into the room frantically searching for his clothes.  
  
"What's happened so far," he demanded.  
  
She pulled out his garments and threw them on the bed, preparing his makeup. The glare he would get today would be horrendous. "A third of the palace servants have disappeared and half of the Shadow wizards are gone. Yu Gi Oh, we have to hurry, he's opening gates to the Shadow Realm right and left!"  
  
The kings cursed again.  
  
"But there's more."  
  
"More?"  
  
Selene's blue-gray eyes were clouded with panic. "The gods are scorching the earth, sea and sky. All three of them! Yu Gi Oh, what are we going to do?" she squeaked.  
  
Yuugi saw the blood on the pharaoh's face drain away. "A-all three of them?"  
  
Selene's nod was just as grave.  
  
"We have to move, quickly!" He started heading out the door.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
He whirled around.  
  
"What about him?" She pointed to Yuugi. "What if he knows about him? He's not safe!"  
  
The slave had never seen the cool, collected morning star panic. It scared him when Yu Gi Oh looked desperate. "What do I do? I can't be two places at once!"  
  
She bit her tongue at the irony of that statement. "Aeyeta is coming, but we need at least two people here. Kekeweht,"  
  
"No, I need him!"  
  
The silver haired woman searched her mind. "Natuwhet, get Natuwhet!" She ran to the door where two medjai stood at the ready. "Get Natuwhet!" She cried.  
  
In a flash he was there, as stressed as the rest of them, the apprentice right at his side.  
  
"Stay with him, Aeyeta. Don't let your eyes off him, and watch him better than the eyes of Horus. Don't leave him, no matter what you do!"  
  
The strawberry blonde nodded vigorously, taking her place right next to the ka of the pharaoh.  
  
The king and his advisor were out of the room before Yuugi could even blink. "What's going on?" he asked.  
  
"The shadow games. The traitor has let the monsters loose on the earth."  
  
The ground shook violently underneath of them. Yuugi looked up frightened. "What was that?"  
  
"A power surge. They're trying to bring everything back into balance."  
  
"Will they succeed?"  
  
"We'll have to wait and see."  
  
All day they didn't dare leave the chambers, quakes constantly knocking them off their balance. Occasionally the slave could hear a tormented scream behind it, sometimes male, sometimes female. And other times, it didn't sound human at all. Natuwhet cursed every time the ground rumbled and seemed to breathe like some wild beast. "I should be there, they need my help! I feel so helpless in here!"  
  
His chance to help came soon enough.  
  
Yuugi's skin ran cold, chills inching its way down his spine. Some sort of breeze was blowing in through the balcony.  
  
Yuugi averted his eyes, and saw a flash of silver streak across the sky.  
  
"What was that?" he asked.  
  
"What was what, Yuugi?"  
  
"That." He pointed out the balcony as a small speck began to grow larger and larger. Aeyeta screamed, and Natuwhet choked.  
  
A huge dragon composed of a metallic hide lunged forward and landed on the balcony, crushing the stone railings. It reared its massive head, screeching a ravenous battle cry. Blue eyes bore down on its opponent.  
  
"The Blue Eyes," he heard one of them hiss.  
  
Aeyeta stood and forced Yuugi behind her. She raised her arms, summoning the strongest creature she could, who was also her familiar. "I summon you, Suigin, God of the water!"  
  
A massive blue creature with its own plates of armor came from what seemed out of no where, ready to protect its master and her charge.  
  
"Spell binding circle, and I summon you, Hyozanru!"  
  
The two stood there, calling upon different things that made no sense to the slave at all, but it seemed to be stopping whatever it was that tried to attack them.  
  
Aeyeta slumped down next to the miniature pharaoh, exauhsted and breathing heavily. Natuwhet almost laughed. "Well, that was fun. Ready for round two?"  
  
The strawberry blonde glared at him with her bright blue eyes.  
  
"Seth was after him, old friend. That beast was his familiar, and his favorite. I can't believe we stopped it."  
  
"Nor can I."  
  
Late into the night the rumbling of the ground still continued, and Yuugi began to wonder if Yu Gi Oh would ever return. It wasn't till right around midnight did the chamber doors fly open.  
  
Three people came toppling in, barely able to walk under their own exhaustion. Selene and Jade were carrying the pharaoh between them, who was dangerously flushed.  
  
The two lovers dropped him onto the bed as Yuugi crawled up next to him. Selene forced him down, wrapping the pharaoh's arms around the slave's waist. Yu Gi Oh wasn't responding too much, just the occasional whimper, and the small tear that might trickle down his cheek.  
  
"What happened to him?" His face was creased in what looked like pain, brows furrowed together.  
  
"Stay close to him little love, he needs you right now. All day long the traitor has been sending him images, illusions of you being killed and tortured in unspeakable ways. When he wakes, he needs to see that you are all right lest he go mad. Don't leave him. Not until he has fully rested and the nightmares have past." Her voice sounded strained and tired. Urgency almost greater than when she had rushed in that morning.  
  
Yuugi nodded, clutching tightly to the pharaoh's neck.  
  
"Selene, I must tell you something," Aeyeta whispered.  
  
"Yes," she asked wearily.  
  
"We were attacked by the Blue Eyes today."  
  
"Y-you were?"  
  
"We stopped it, but we are extremely tired."  
  
"We should stay here tonight. If something happens, Yu Gi Oh is in no condition to fight anything."  
  
Aeyeta agreed. Jade had already fallen asleep at the foot of the pharaoh's bed.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
All night long Yuugi would awaken to the cries of his lover next to him, more tears streaking down his face. And, ever so gently, Yuugi would wipe or kiss them away and whisper soothing words until the shaking stopped.  
  
Selene would at times cry next to Jade, who clutched her closer than before The pharaoh wasn't the only one who had received horrid pictures.  
  
Aeyeta was having nightmares, too.  
  
Nobody received much sleep that night.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"No, no, no," she cried in her sleep. "No, no," her mouth was in a perfect O, the only plea that could escape her lips.  
  
"Aeyeta, wake up. Aeyeta!" Selene shook the girl until she would rise from her troubled slumber.  
  
She did, eventually, gasping and crying. "No, no," she continued.  
  
What is it?" her mentor demanded.  
  
"We're doomed. We're all doom. 'The darkness will rise, and the doors will open. Traitor will turn traitor, and the gods will scorn.' We're doomed. The darkness will rise, oh gods, it will rise. Will chaos roam as we feared? What's going on? No, no. . ." The girl cried, and the rooms other occupants looked somber and saddened. Aeyeta had foresight, a gift that she didn't want right now.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Well, I know that it was short, but next chapter I'm going to explain what happened in the gaming room. . .  
  
Jade: Hope we spelled the names of the monsters right, couldn't be sure since we don't have those cards.  
  
Silver Lily: Don't get too hung up on the cliffie, the last chapters are winding down. Keep reading! And R&R!!!! 


	9. Trials of the King

Silver Lily: Sorry that the update took so long! Homework, you know. Teachers loooove piling it up just before spring break.  
  
Jade: If only aibou would let me take care of them for good, we wouldn't have to worry about homework.  
  
Silver Lily: *cries*  
  
Jade: What?  
  
Silver Lily: *sniffles* I have a muse!!! *whines*  
  
Jade: *quirks eyebrow*  
  
Silver Lily: She's my only voice of reason! And she makes me work! *cries*  
  
Zuka: That's right, now get to it! *shoves keyboard under nose*  
  
Silver Lily: *cries*  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Make 7, Up Yours.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Tanned feet pounded heavily down the crowded corridor. "Hurry, Selene, summon the remaining wizards that are still loyal!"  
  
"They're already on their way."  
  
Yu Gi Oh tore open the door to the gaming room, where a small crowd of people stood waiting for instructions.  
  
"Tell me where the first portal was opened and when."  
  
"Three candle marks before the Eye's zenith, my lord. Two leagues west of Cairo. The next one was just a few minutes later, three city blocks outside of the eastern Lower Egypt," Jade explained hurriedly.  
  
The pharaoh took a few deep breaths. He needed to relax to be able to concentrate. "Guard me from any outside disturbances, Kekeweht, Selene, I can't have any distractions."  
  
With out even waiting for a simple nod of consent, he closed his eyes and focused. Extending his thoughts as far as possible, he Searched for the first portal. The longer they were open, the harder they were to close.  
  
Yes, there it was. Now he could See it. A huge, black and purple rift in the blue and gold sky.  
  
He pulled from the large node beneath him and forced the fibers to weave back together. Slowly, surely, the abyss began to close, the chaos turned into order.  
  
There, it was done.  
  
The earth shook with a violent tremor as the Balance shifted. This was good. This meant it was sealed.  
  
The traitor could only open up so many portals at one time, he would exhaust himself soon.  
  
Suddenly, the king's world went dark. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, and he couldn't Feel anything.  
  
"What the, where am I!?" he demanded into the emptiness around him.  
  
He didn't sense the powers of chaos, or order. He couldn't feel the node or the pillars of strength that were Selene and Kekeweht who were always there to catch him if he fell.  
  
Crying. Soft whimpers echoing endlessly off invisible walls. Why did it sound so familiar?  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
Blindly he walked forward. There, a small speck of something in front of him. It was a light! He followed it.  
  
The crying continued, growing steadily louder. What was going on?  
  
He reached his hands out like a blind man, feeling for anything that might be in his way.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
In a brilliant flash the small speck in front of him exploded on all sides. Yu Gi Oh nearly emptied the contents of his stomach.  
  
Yuugi lay strapped to an iron table, covered in blood so old it had turned black, and blood so fresh it was still steaming. Iron chains bound him to the hard, cold surface, tools of torture lay strewn about him.  
  
Yuugi looked at him with eyes that no longer held any life to them at all. An endless abyss of misery sat as empty holes in his head. Blood covered him from head to foot, vital organs spilling out of his exposed abdomen.  
  
The crying continued. Insects came and started tearing away at the lacerated flesh, and the sobbing went on.  
  
Yu Gi Oh put his hands to his head and creamed. This couldn't be real.  
  
But it had to be.  
  
He could smell the stench of decay, the old, crusting blood and the coppery smell of the new life force. His throat was clenched shut and he couldn't breathe properly. His lungs were on fire.  
  
He could only scream.  
  
'Yu Gi Oh,' a voice whispered. Maybe it was Yuugi, asking why he didn't protect him. Curse him for his lies of safety.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, come back,' it whispered again.  
  
"Come back," he repeated. His eyes were squeezed shut, trying to block out what he saw.  
  
'Yu Gi Oh, it's not real.'  
  
A tiny spark of hope flared brilliantly inside of his chest. It's not real. It's not real.  
  
He clung to that simple phrase. It's not real. But if it wasn't real, then it was an illusion.  
  
"It's an illusion," he uttered.  
  
'Say it louder Yu Gi Oh.'  
  
"It's an illusion," he said again. And he repeated himself. Louder and louder each time.  
  
"It's an illusion, it's not real!!" He screamed in now. He screamed until his lungs felt like they would flicker out like a candle in the wind. "It's not real!"  
  
And suddenly he was back. His feet were on solid ground and the golden luminance of the Egyptian day flooded his vision.  
  
Selene was standing over him panic-stricken. "Yu Gi Oh, are you all right? What did Seth make you see?"  
  
Calmly, he stood and walked over to wear his throne was, where he usually sat to watch over the games. Turning his back on everyone, he allowed the bile to flow freely until no more resided within his stomach, using the throne to hold on to.  
  
Selene averted her eyes from the convulsions. Sensing his muscles tensing was enough for her.  
  
When he was done, he turned around and joined everyone once again.  
  
"He sent me an image of Yuugi tortured to death," was all he said.  
  
"This will happen again, you know, Each time you close a gate, it will leave you open and another illusion will be sent to you," Jade said.  
  
"I know."  
  
And so it continued. Another gate closed, another illusion ensued. Three gates, four gates, five, he lost count.  
  
At twelve all of his advisors told him to stop. His face was flushed and stained with tears beyond count. Shadows sat heavy under his eyes.  
  
"I can't, I'm the only one strong enough to close them up on my own," he panted.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, the gods are out ravaging the cities, and other monsters still. Selene and Jade can work together to close the remaining three gates, but you need all of the strength that you have left to obliterate the creatures back to where they came from."  
  
The king of Thebes growled. "All right, fine. But be careful!"  
  
Silently, he was grateful. He didn't know if he could handle one more image of Yuugi being dismembered or tortured, or worse.  
  
The worst one, the last one he received, Selene was standing over half of the slaves body, holding a bloodied scythe with a sadistic grin on her face. He knew deep down that she would never do that, and that her eyes would never have a reddish hue, but it made his blood run cold just the same.  
  
He heard the silver-haired advisor scream as he left for the cities, goose- bumps prickling up his golden-toned skin.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Doomed, we're all doomed," Aeyeta cried.  
  
The pharaoh of Egypt lay on his bed with his eyes closed, clinging tightly to his china-doll replica. Yes, he heard what Aeyeta had said. He knew what was coming, even if he couldn't describe the way his marrow was chilled at those thoughts, or how he could stop it. So he did the only thing he could do at the moment.  
  
He buried his head in the hollow of Yuugi's neck, thanking the gods that he didn't smell coppery and like death. No, he still smelled sweet and soft, with his hair still as silky-shiny as ever.  
  
The greatest comfort was his heartbeat against his own. What was even weirder; their hearts beat in time with each other.  
  
He wondered if Yuugi had noticed this.  
  
"Selene, I-I saw something else last night. It's not pretty."  
  
"What was it?"  
  
The water apprentice whimpered. "Seth is going to come in a few days for one final battle. But, there's more than just his Blue-Eyes that he's going to use. He's been working on a dangerous spell for years now. When he fights the pharaoh, all he has to do to complete the spell is whisper Yu Gi Oh's name, and it will send his soul to the shadow realm forever, and obliterate his body. Nothing of his mortal existence will be salvageable. There's nothing we can do. All of the power inside of the king that could seal up the games forever will be lost."  
  
Silence hung inside of the pharaoh's chambers like a snake about to strike. The silence before the storm, or the eye of the hurricane. Disaster lay on all sides, and there was no escape.  
  
"Don't leave me," Yuugi whispered in his ear. Soft, pleading, and a warm aura that tickled his thoughts.  
  
"Never," he whispered back, too low for anyone else to hear.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Whee!!! Another chappie down!!! Hehe, guess how they deal with this little problem. . . Please, make a poor, brooding artist/writer girl happy. R&R. 


	10. Souls Of The Trapped

Silver Lily: *giggles insanely*  
  
Jade: What?  
  
Silver Lily: *squeezes Yuugi plushie* Zuka-chan made all of these plushies for my story!! I have; an Aeyeta plushie, a Jade plushie, and a Yami plushie. I even have a Yami vampire plushie with cute little fangs!!! *squeals*  
  
Jade: Oh joy, Oh rapture. . .  
  
Silver Lily: On with the fic!!!  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
From the trips I now and then take to childhood, I brought back, for this illustration, a bag of old religious images, solitary desires, and nightmares.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Yu Gi Oh sighed heavily into his folded hands. This discussion was going nowhere very quickly.  
  
"There has to be something we can do," Kekeweht reasoned.  
  
"Like what?" Tekutet asked. "This is more than just a simple spell that he's been laboring over. He's been planning this for years. YEARS. So precise and meticulous was this planning, that it's impossible for it to go wrong. All of the elements required to kill a mortal soul have put into place. And we can't just not have him duel, who will seal the Shadow Realm, then? He is the _only_ one!"  
  
All nine heads sat lowered in thought. All of the advisors were summoned for an emergency meeting in a futile attempt to figure out just what it was that they could do.  
  
The hair on the back of Selene's neck began to rise. "Do you hear that, lover?" she whispered. Her blue-gray eyes were fixated on the main entrance.  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
The morning star felt a tingling sensation rumble deep within his bones. "It sounds like, like. . "  
  
"A roaring ocean," Aeyeta breathed.  
  
"What is it," Kekeweht asked, quite bewildered.  
  
A palace guard came running in, frantic. His clothes were askew, and his spear was in hand. "My morning star, you must come quickly. All of Thebes stands outside our walls!" He cried, panicked.  
  
Exchanging questioning looks, all nine of the room's occupants ran out. The noise was growing louder.  
  
Selene stopped dead in her tracks. "The entire city is our here!"  
  
The pharaoh's violet eyes widened to the size of saucers as he gazed about him, past the palace walls. Thousands it must have been, all yelling, roaring, shaking their fist and pointing in one spot off to his left.  
  
Three medjai came into view, struggling with a figure in dirt covered robes. Bleach-blonde hair swiveled in the golden light, growls and grunts rolling over the throng of noise from the whole of Thebes.  
  
"Pharaoh, this thief was caught today inside of the palace, stealing this." The black-garbed medjai handed Yu Gi Oh a large gold trinket. It was one gold ring, with a triangle in the center, and the mark of Horus.  
  
"A sennen item," Jade sighed.  
  
"The thief's name is Bakura."  
  
The king had heard that name before. The infamous tomb robber. "Aren't you the one that stole from my father's pyramid?"  
  
The white haired male growled, still struggling.  
  
"My lord, all of Thebes has been trying to capture him for years. They want more done to him than just imprisonment for life. With all of the carnage that has been going on lately, they want you to do something to his soul," the guard replied gravely.  
  
The king of Thebes looked out on his people again. Their screams filled his ears, their anger filled his heart.  
  
Why did Egyptians have to be so moralistic sometimes?  
  
He looked to Selene, who had her eyes on the ground. She hated locking up souls as much as he did, but with the anger of a city behind his actions, he didn't have much of a choice.  
  
"So be it," his voice rang. "This thief will spend eternity with what he wanted most. He will be banished to this ring."  
  
The pharaoh didn't register his palm being exposed. He didn't hear his voice crying 'oblivion' above the crowd. And he didn't want to see the empty look in the thief's eyes as he crumbled to the ground.  
  
The crowd cheered with violent applause, but Yu Gi Oh did not stay to hear it. He left, and retreated back into the silent recesses of his palace.  
  
He was back in his seat before the rest of the advisors had returned, head held in his hands.  
  
"You didn't have a choice, Yu Gi Oh. With the city's anger where it was, they looked ready to try and overthrow you. The stress from yesterday is getting to everybody," Selene comforted.  
  
"His ka will be born again alone, you know. It will be born incomplete and it will have a demented darkness to deal with." Yu Gi Oh replied, no tone resounded in his words. Simple observation.  
  
Jade's eyes were misted over in thought. "Tekutet, didn't you say that all of the elements for the destruction of a mortal existence has been carefully brought together?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What if we altered the one element that is in our grasps?"  
  
"How do you mean?" he asked curiously.  
  
"This spell is to kill a mortal creature. But, what if he's already dead?"  
  
Blue-gray eyes widened drastically. "No, beloved, you can't mean doing that," Selene gasped.  
  
"Why not? Once the puzzle is completed, we can reverse it. Because then all of the items will be complete."  
  
"What are you talking about," everyone questioned the debating lovers. Neither seemed to hear them.  
  
"What if something goes wrong? What if a piece of the puzzle is stolen, or worse?"  
  
"We don't have much of choice. It's either this, or we loose him forever, and the shadow realm stays open."  
  
"What!?" the pharaoh demanded. "What do you mean 'already dead'?"  
  
"Oh, I wish that the puzzle was done now, cause then it could protect him from the spell." Her silver head dropped to her hands.  
  
"Selene, even that is not a sure bet. And you know that I don't like to gamble. We _have_ to. There's no other way."  
  
"What!!" Everyone yelled. Everyone, that is, accept a certain apprentice.  
  
"Aeyeta," Selene said.  
  
"No," she shook her strawberry blonde head. "I won't. I-I can't. Please, don't make me," she pleaded.  
  
"You have to friend. You have to," Selene pressed.  
  
"No," she continued.  
  
"You're the only one that has connections. You're the only one that can. You have to. You have to summon Ramses the damned. We must make the pharaoh a vampire."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Yu Gi Oh sighed, dreading the days to come. Sleepily, he pressed his way into his chambers, Yuugi waiting patiently for him by the balcony like he always did.  
  
The slave looked around as the door creaked, then smiled. "I sure do like sunsets, don't you?"  
  
He nodded sadly. "Yes, I always have." He walked over to his little replica and wrapped his arms around the back of the little one's waist. This might be the last peaceful night the two of them would have together for a long time.  
  
"Did you find out a way to stop that spell, yet?"  
  
"Yes, we did."  
  
"Will it work?" Yuugi looked up at him hopefully, wide violet eyes brimming with concern.  
  
"Yes, we believe that it will." Yu Gi Oh gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go to bed, little one. This might be the last good-night's rest that we get in a very long time."  
  
"All right."  
  
The two retired to the soft, feather filled bed, ready to sleep for as long as possible. Warmth flooded the entire room, and the soft embrace of two lovers, two halves of the same soul, lay in each others' arms, feeling their hearts beat in time with each other. It wasn't long till both were sound asleep.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Yes, I know that it's short! I'm sorry!!!!! This is a VERY important chapter, though. The next one. . . hehehehehe, vampires!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	11. Darkness Falls

Silver Lily: *singing mission impossible song*  
  
Jade: What's with the sound effects?  
  
Silver Lily: *giggles stupidly* I'm never going to be able to pull this chapter off!!! *faints*  
  
Zuka Chan: Get up off your lazy arse and type!!!  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
But a millenium of nights will be yours to see light as no mortal has ever seen it, to snatch from the distant stars as if you were Prometheus an endless illumination by which to understand all things. . .  
  
-Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A silent whirlwind glided across the empty Egyptian sands of Thebes. Delicate breezes caressed the children of the desert, the lady mirage working her deadly spells upon the unwary wanderer.  
  
Silent violet eyes regarded the golden expanse which was filled with secrets and magick, lovers and blood. What would happen? Could he truly seal the Dark Realm as he had promised? Could he possibly stop this violent hex that was sure to be cast upon him?  
  
Would he ever see the china doll that looked so much like him ever again?  
  
The golden Eye of Horus was turning a stark blood red beyond the distant horizon, his silver one steadily taking its place.  
  
Soon.  
  
Anxious feet scuffled outside of his chamber doors.  
  
Very soon.  
  
Yuugi sat on his bed, lost deep in his own thoughts. He wasn't as naïve as he looked. He knew that not all was right. The marrow of his bones was oozing with worry. "What's going to happen to you?"  
  
Yu Gi Oh snapped his head around at the sudden sound, then sighed. "Not even I'm exactly sure."  
  
The slave rolled this response around in his little head.  
  
"Knock, knock, knock!"  
  
The morning star of Egypt walked over to his two oaken doors, opening them with great hesitance.  
  
"Dear heart, it's time to go. Ramses will be waiting for us soon, and we need to make sure that all of the preparations are in order." Selene's blue- gray eyes were mostly gray right now, heavy with apprehension.  
  
"Let me say goodbye to Yuugi," he whispered.  
  
Her silver head nodded in understanding.  
  
Closing his door, he walked back over to his oversized bed. The young slave looked up at him solemnly as a lithe arm snaked its way around his waist.  
  
"Yuugi, I have to go now. You may not see me for the next few days."  
  
"Will I see you again?"  
  
"I promise. I don't care if I have to break through the power of the gods, I will be back to see you." He captured the smaller one's lips in a passionate kiss, trying to memorize the taste, the smell. He didn't want to ever forget.  
  
A looming shadow kept telling him that he just may not be able to come back.  
  
He hugged the small frame tighter to himself, reveling in the feel of the soft skin that was so light in comparison to his own.  
  
Breaking off the intimate contact, he nuzzled his face into Yuugi's hair one last time, whispering the comforting words of a lover.  
  
"I love you, Yuugi. And I promise, I will be back."  
  
A lead hand squeezed around the little one's heart. That sinking feeling he had been having, well, he wasn't the only one worried like he had thought.  
  
Yu Gi Oh wiped away a falling tear from the porcelain cheek.  
  
"I'll see you when you get back then," the little one whispered.  
  
With one last kiss on his forehead, the pharaoh left with a saddened smile.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Yu Gi Oh, stop pacing! You're making me more nervous than I already am!"  
  
Selene looked close to pulling her hair out. Poor woman. She hated this idea as much as I did.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh!"  
  
I almost laugh inside. She was always funny when she was upset about something.  
  
"Selene, why do I have the terrible feeling that this is going to be my downfall? Why do I feel that after my duel with the traitor to close the shadow realm I will never see any of you again?"  
  
I almost scream out my fear and frustration at her, not expecting her response.  
  
"Because that's what we're all feeling."  
  
The sun had set about two candle marks ago. Jade had informed me where I would be sleeping for the next few days, away from the brilliance of Re- Atum.  
  
The criminals in the dungeons would be my food, too. I shuddered. This was something that I certainly wasn't looking forward to.  
  
"Come on, Ramses, you promised that you would do me this favor!"  
  
The young apprentice seemed to be pleading with our awaited 'guest' outside in the hall. The response was too low for any of us to hear.  
  
"It shouldn't make a difference if it's the pharaoh or not! I told you that we would give you compensation for this!"  
  
Now we heard the growl.  
  
Well, needles to say, he eventually came in.  
  
Despite of all of the creatures that I have seen in the games, this was something that certainly stunned me.  
  
It was like watching some sort of phantom glide over the golden floor, too solid for what should have been real. Midnight hair that paled the night sky above seemed to move at his will, deep set eyes almost hidden by the high cheek bones.  
  
His skin was the color of bones that sat out in the sun for years bleaching, so smooth and unblemished he looked like Pandora before animation. Carved of the purest marble. Odd. I had never seen those type of clothes before. Leather? A tunic and, what was that?  
  
"It's called a jerkin, my lord. The garb of the nomads in the far north. Boots, breaches, I find it much easier to take care of, since I'm always on the move."  
  
His voice chilled my skin. Too thick, too sweat, some sort of whisper that had suddenly been given more volume. It wasn't human.  
  
"I have been told that you wish to become like me, the undead."  
  
"Yes," I found my voice. "I have to. The future of Egypt, and potentially the whole world depends on it."  
  
The vampire bowed. "Then please, let me help. If there were no mortals in the world, there would be no reason for me to exist."  
  
All of my vision suddenly focused on this creature, this mistake of nature, that started advancing on me. I became enraptured by his piercing gaze, his ghost like movements and his aura of power.  
  
Hands like stone wrapped around my back and he pulled me closer, whispering to me to be calm, to not fight.  
  
"Stay awake," he instructed me. "Fight the fatigue that will envelop you."  
  
Fatigue? Just what happened when one was actually bit?  
  
My body gave a frightening jolt when I felt the fangs pierce my skin. Gods, his lips were freezing. Shivers ran through my spine like wild-fire.  
  
Yes, he was right. My vision was blurring, my legs wanted to give out. But I could hear his voice in my head. 'Stay awake, my pharaoh, fight. Be the strong ruler that you are.'  
  
Oh, it would be so easy. Falling into this, this, how do I explain it? Overwhelming feeling? Strange urges that I had never felt before? The sensation of my blood flowing out of me, it was almost ecstasy.  
  
His tall body was growing warm around me, filling with my blood.  
  
My eyes were heavy. It felt like the sins of Set were setting upon them with a vengeance. I felt my body give way, and the vampire began to support me. Anubis only knows how long we stayed in this delightful heaven, this torment of what was almost pleasure.  
  
Suddenly, he broke away from my pulsing artery, trickles of blood flowing down his chin. My fatigued eyes mused to themselves. What a stark contrast. The bright red against the luminance of porcelain white. He was beautiful, this imitation of a human.  
  
His finger cut a gouge in his neck, and he forced my heavy head up to it.  
  
"Drink," he whispered, with all the gentleness of a long-lost lover.  
  
No, I didn't want to. I didn't want to drink blood.  
  
My lips became crushed against his now warm skin, and the steaming liquid twisted its way into my mouth.  
  
Oh, gods. This couldn't be real. The taste, the burning life rushing into me. My empty veins cried out for more.  
  
Instinct forced my muscles to cling tighter to him, wanting more of this life that he so readily gave me.  
  
"Yes, that's it. Drink," his hissed.  
  
A strange noise made itself prominent in my ears. A loud gong beating with a steady rate. "Thump. . .thump. . .thump. . ." It continued, until I could hear another gong join it, beating with the same rhythm.  
  
It was our hearts. I could hear them push the blood through our systems, could feel this strange connection while consuming this steaming life that splashed into my mouth and down my throat.  
  
If I had known better at the moment, I might have been ashamed at the fact that it was arousing.  
  
Suddenly he cried out and pushed me away.  
  
No, I needed more. I was so. . . so thirsty. My tongue licked away at the blood that had trickled out of the corner of my mouth.  
  
"My, my. Quite a lust for blood, have we?" Ramses laughed. Or rather, cackled. "My services here are done. Try not to fall in love too much with the night, my pharaoh." He waved his hand carelessly and walked away.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Selene watched horrified as Yu Gi Oh clung to Ramses for all that he was worth, drinking blood that shouldn't exist.  
  
When Ramses pushed him away, she saw the blood ooze down his lips, and his skin started to turn pale.  
  
Oh, dear Zeus. His eyes. His beautiful purple eyes. They were slowly changing into a bright, vivid crimson. If he seemed to peer into the shadowy depths of your soul before, now he was passing judgement on it. The lust for blood was the only thing that they could see in his eyes at the moment, dark and deadly.  
  
"He looks like an avenger from the Christian Hell," Jade whispered to her. Dumbly, she shook her head yes.  
  
"What have we done," she pleaded back.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Whee!!! Another one down!! Next time, the battle against the traitor, Seth. HEHE, R&R!!! 


	12. Rage Of The Damned

Silver Lily: *sighs* My review numbers are going down on this story. I hope that it's not getting too long. . .  
  
Jade: Help her, Zuka! She's loosing interest!  
  
Zuka Chan: What am I supposed to do? I inspire inspiration for something she _wants_ to do! I can't just make her like it again! It's up to the reviewers.  
  
Silver Lily: Hmm, I could just divulge what happens in the end. . .  
  
Jade: Oh, no you don't! We've been working on this too hard! Get typing!!  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief /Convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it.  
  
Macbeth, -William Shakespeare  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The body fell limply to the floor like a sack of stale flour. Cold and empty, every ounce of blood gone from the fiend.  
  
The pharaoh actually enjoyed the struggle they put up. It excited the blood, made it taste better.  
  
"A-are you done yet, my lord?"  
  
A wary advisor poked her silver head through the dungeon door.  
  
"I think so." The pharaoh wiped away the last remnants of blood from his tanned lips. He was glad that Selene did charms so very well, masking his ivory skin.  
  
Leaving the thief where he had dropped, the two made their way out into the dingy hall. "Any word from Seth, yet?"  
  
"That is why I interrupted you so early. There is a riot outside of the palace walls. He's here now, demanding to fight you for the throne."  
  
He grinned. "Let him come."  
  
Selene cringed. The pharaoh sounded too excited about the whole affair. Since he was changed, his entire personality had morphed into some strange, crazed creature, sometimes beyond even her reasoning. "As you wish, Yami."  
  
The vampire rolled that new name around in his head for the thousandth time. He felt he rather liked it. It fit well.  
  
The morning star thought back to when it was declared his name.  
  
* * * *  
  
"From this day forth, let it be known to all of the confidants of the Pharaoh of Egypt. The king Yu Gi Oh is dead, and in his place is the ruler of us all, Yami. Wielder of the darkness. This name cannot be known to any, to preserve his safety from hexes or enchantments made against him." Selene's emotionless voice rang out over the silent crowd of nine heads, all downcast save for a pair of sparkling ruby eyes. They were almost laughing.  
  
"All hail, pharaoh Yami, lord of Egypt," the toneless voices chanted together.  
  
Only one question was on everyone's mind. What had they done?  
  
* * * *  
  
"Remember, dear heart. One of the lower servants will be fighting in your place first. We cannot let on that Seth no longer poses a threat to you, lest he do something rash. We are going to appear as if we were looking out for your safety first."  
  
He nodded his head in reply.  
  
"Remember, though. Try to keep the shadows on your eyes. I can't change their color like I can change your skin."  
  
Another nod.  
  
Her silver-dusted hand pushed open the door to the gaming room, where people were already beginning to gather and watch. Those still loyal to Egypt stood in respect, while a select few chose to keep their seats, scowls evident upon their features. They would pay for their mutiny.  
  
Yami took his throne, whilst the advisors stood close by, watching, and waiting. No, wait. Jade wasn't here. Where in the world had he gone?  
  
A tall figure in flowing purple robes strode forward into the center of the large, golden room.  
  
Silence hung heavy on all heads.  
  
"Pharaoh of Egypt, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, I will take your throne, and your soul will go to the shadow realm. If you win, my soul will be forever locked in darkness. Does the King of Games accept?"  
  
Yam almost laughed. He was really enjoying this show that the traitor was putting on for him.  
  
"I accept," his voice, now deeper since his transformation, rang our clearly through the crowd, causing his enemies to shiver.  
  
And so it began. The summoning wizards took their places behind the duelers, and Seth began fighting, after many grunts and groans, one of the lesser nobility's of the palace.  
  
Surprising to the king, the nobility was actually doing quite well. That is, until Seth plastered a ridiculous grin on his face.  
  
"Prepare for the ultimate beast of destruction! The Blue Eyes White Dragon!!" he cackled when the ghostly apparation of the same beast that attacked the ka of the king appeared, jaws opened and screaming in defiance. Seth's familiar.  
  
The poor duelist screamed when the beam of white lightning hit him, sending his soul to the realm of shadows.  
  
The part of the vampire that was still human felt a pang of remorse for him. What a pity.  
  
Now he stood, taking his place as he had wanted to in the first place. Rushing in front of the dragon, summoning his own familiar; the Dark Magician.  
  
"I summon the spell-binding circle, and use the book of secrets arts, to obliterate your Blue Eyes!"  
  
Seth was outraged. He hadn't set up any traps, satisfied that he would easily destroy his first opponent then move on to the next.  
  
Yami waited to unleash his attack. He had time.  
  
Sand and dust sat for the first time unnoticed as all eyes were fixated on what was before them.  
  
Amidst this sudden silence, a harsh laughter rang out.  
  
"Is something funny, traitor?" the morning star inquired, already knowing what was coming.  
  
"Yu Gi Oh," Seth breathed, pronouncing each syllable meticulously and precisely.  
  
Keeping his response silent save for the brunette in front of him, the pharaoh lifted his eyes for the first time since entering this room. Seth gasped at the cold crimson that sliced away at his soul. "Yu Gi Oh, is _dead _."  
  
No, this wasn't supposed to happen. How did he find out? How?  
  
"Have fun in the Shadow Realm, traitor! Dark Magician, attack!"  
  
Seth's eyes blanked over when the streams of purple and black washed over him and his decapitated beast. Maybe he would get out of it. Maybe he would be reborn anyway. He'd never know, though. Not for a while, at least.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Yami laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Such a success! Shadow Realm closed for good, now that his greatest rival was gone and dead. About bloody time, too. Speaking of blood, he wanted another victim before sunrise.  
  
His loyal followers had cheered and cheered for him. Those that had followed the traitor had been delt with accordingly. Death seemed so fitting for them.  
  
Yami sometimes stopped to think to himself on these matters. He had never viewed death as something very appealing before. In fact, he hadn't liked it much at all. But now, the subject intrigued him. And the thought of blood just about made him giddy.  
  
Selene was leaning against a wall opposite him, head downcast. Jade still hadn't been seen yet.  
  
But that wasn't what was bothering her, the pharaoh knew that. He could See it in her thoughts. Selene kept berating herself for what had been done to their king. And she worried. Would he want to turn back to a human once all of the items were done? Would he go in a rage and attack everybody? Question after question swirled around in her pretty little head.  
  
In part, she was right.  
  
The thrill of _knowing_ that he was immortal, the ecstasies of the fresh blood that he consumed nightly, even the deep sleeps that he took every day. He was never tired anymore.  
  
Then without warning an idea popped into his head and refused to leave. Yuugi.  
  
"I'm going to go see my little one, and let him know that everything went all right."  
  
"No, Yami stop! You can't!" Selene's exhausted head shot up quickly.  
  
"And why not?" Yami spat. Gods, her worry was making him sick lately.  
  
"Your blood lust! With your infatuation with him, it is almost certain that you'll loose your control and end up drinking from him. He's so small, he might be killed! You _can't_!"  
  
Yami growled loudly. "I want to go see him!"  
  
"Yami, please, don't. As soon as the puzzle is done, we can change you back and then you can go see him."  
  
"When the puzzle is done, when the puzzle is done, that's all I ever hear from you anymore! How damn long does it take!? I'm tired of this waiting!"  
  
"Yami, you know that we wouldn't have done this unless there was no other way. It was for the best." Her voice was so low, barely above a whisper. Had his ears been any more human, he might not have heard her.  
  
Anger boiled up inside of him. All of these damn excuses. Where did she get off? Who did she think she was?  
  
Before he could stop to think, he was at her neck in a blind fury, lapping up the burning substance as fast as he could. Her blood was different. It wasn't like the other mortal blood that he had consumed. Fire pouring down his throat, hot and intangible. It didn't have a faint coppery taste. No, not at all. If he had known metals better, he might have said that it tasted something like silver, and bright moonlight washing over him.  
  
It was delicious.  
  
He let her drop before her last heart beat thumped against his chest.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A sliver off from the left, a small indent on the right. Easy now, a steady hand was needed for this. Polish it smooth, and fit it into place. Yes, perfect. Jade had the world's largest grin on his face.  
  
He was done. He was finally and completely done with the puzzle.  
  
He almost cried out with joy, then reminded himself he was an adult.  
  
Screw it, he cried out for joy anyway.  
  
"Finally," he breathed, admiring his handy work. The Eye of Horus sparkled brightly on the golden surface. Now all they had to do was bring it to where the other items were, and have him and his lover perform the spell over the pharaoh. Then he would be human again.  
  
This was almost too good to be true.  
  
His thoughts were abruptly stopped, however, when a sharp pang dug into the left side of his neck, and drowsiness took hold. He cried out, and one thought ran through his head.  
  
'Selene, my beloved, you are hurt. You are hurt and you need my help. Where are you, lover, why are you in such pain?'  
  
He grabbed onto his neck, a slight trickled of blood seeping through his fingers, and stumbled out of the work-room. Where was she? The hall, that's where he could feel her. The hall outside of the gaming room.  
  
Blindly he followed the tug on his soul that was her, which was slowly becoming dimmer.  
  
Yes, there she was. His groggy eyes could see her slumped on the floor. "Selene," he cried out. Collapsing the rest of the way, he crawled to her empty body, wrapping his arms around her. By the light of Apollo, she was so cold. So very cold.  
  
Yami watched as the pitiful form of his advisor was laying on top of his lover, sobbing like no one was watching. He looked so weak for some reason. Had something happened to him before he came here? Is that why he was gone from the duel?  
  
A heart-wrenching scream filled his ears, and that young apprentice came running up to the two fallen on the floor. She examined Selene's lifeless body, eyes quickly snapping up to her pharaoh.  
  
"What have you done," she demanded. "Don't you see? She was his ka! He's going to die without her! Now you will never become human again! They were the only one's that could do it!"  
  
It didn't register at first. The only ones? His ka?  
  
Aeyeta picked up the large hunk of gold resting still resting in Jade's dying grip. The puzzle, the item meant for the king, was finished at last. And Yami saw all of this.  
  
What had he done? He had murdered two halves of the same soul, that's what he had done. And he sealed his doom forever.  
  
He ran as fast as his preternatural legs could carry him.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Silver Lily: Hmm, I think I'll leave it here for now. Last chapter coming up. I think I can finish it then. Keep your eyes open for the sequel for Illusion of the Ellipse, 'Of Blood and Sacrifice.' Coming out next week, hopefully. Don't forget to check out my new posted fic, The Good Child, too. Ja! 


	13. Blissful Ignorance

Silver Lily: Well, here it is, the last chapter. Sure has been fun. But don't worry, the final story to all of this coming out next. Will the prophecies come true?  
  
Jade: Of course they will, the reader just doesn't know how they're going to be twisted, that's all. Enjoy.  
  
Sunstone  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Iacta alea est. The die is cast.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
The vampire rose from his slumber with an agonized groan. Memories from the night before drowned his thoughts with the emotions of dread and despair. Doomed. Doomed for ever. And it was all his doing.  
  
Selene was right. He had gone into a rage. He had killed when he hadn't meant to. He had lost the only lover he had ever known.  
  
Yuugi. Oh gods, Yuugi.  
  
What would the poor boy do now? How would he go on? How would Yami go on?  
  
That was the question that was puzzling the vampire. Resigned, there was only one thing left he could do. He had to go back to the palace. Maybe he could find another that could perform the spell. How many of the items did he need? Was it just the puzzle?  
  
That's what it had to be. He convinced himself of this. It would be far too difficult to get a hold of all the other items.  
  
The thirst for human blood was driving him crazy, but he ignored it. He needed to get to the palace now. The sooner in and out of there he was, the better. He would get the puzzle and he would find another that could perform the magick required to change him back.  
  
Then he could see Yuugi again.  
  
The last rays of the sun were long since beyond the horizon, allowing him to see fully the miraculous stars in the sky. It was amazing just how much more he could see. Pinks and purples, blues and red and every other color of the rainbow dotted across the evening sky. He could hear for miles around the thoughts of other mortals, and easily determine where his next victim lay.  
  
Oh gods, the thirst again. It was pulling at his starving veins, urging him to fill them with life.  
  
No. he had to get to the palace. He would fight the thirst. He would fight the want to kill. After all, he was immortal, wasn't he? He could surely live without blood for a few hours.  
  
He began running again, away from the old tomb that had been his bed. Homonoptra made a wonderful sleeping place.  
  
It wasn't long before he was standing just outside of the front entrance. And he easily confused the minds of the medjai standing guard.  
  
Yami glided down the many corridors, keeping to the numerous shadows. The sacred holding room wasn't far now. Just the next turn.  
  
The place seemed empty. Barely a soul could be seen. Good. All the quicker he would be.  
  
The vampire slipped into a hidden door. Success! Inside unnoticed. He turned around and there, glittering on a table, were four of the items his beloved advisors had crafted for his aid.  
  
For the first time since he had been transformed, he felt a sharp pang of remorse and regret. Dear Ra, how he had royally screwed up.  
  
A bloody tear began to fall before he vigorously wiped it away, and stomped over to the table.  
  
Yes, the puzzle was here.  
  
He picked it up and turned to walk out the door, and found his way blocked.  
  
Yuugi stood hesitantly in the entrance.  
  
Yami froze. How had he found the door? Had he seen the vampire in the halls after all?  
  
Of all times, it was now that his voice failed him. That look on the little one's face. Why did he have to look so pained? No, wait. Was it relief?  
  
"Yu Gi Oh," Yuugi breathed. Yami winced. That name. No, my little one. Yu Gi Oh is dead. This is all that's left of him. Me. Yami. Some sort of strange shell, a replica of a human. "You came back."  
  
Before the vampire could even react, the once slave was hugging him fiercely, and started crying. "The advisors said that some assassins came in a killed Selene and Jade, and that you had gone into hiding. I was so worried. But you're here now. You came back!"  
  
Yami was still rigid, and rigidly did he fall to his knees. Oh, no. Not the thirst. Not the need for blood. He could see the tiny blood vessels beneath that alabaster skin. He could hear the heart working vigorously to push the liquid of life to every limb. No. Why hadn't he fed? Why?  
  
The smell, sweet and sensuous and salty, teasing his senses. No. Stop hugging me Yuugi. Stop showing me your love. Run, you must run!  
  
He couldn't help it. He imagined the delicate blood splashing down his throat. He imagined just how complete he would feel, attached to the one thing he loved most.  
  
Drinking the blood was MUCH more pleasurable that the act of making love.  
  
No. Run Yuugi, run DAMN IT! The exposed neck, the pumping artery.  
  
Yami couldn't bring himself to speak. He couldn't warn the only thing left in this world that mattered.  
  
An iron fist pushed the vampires head down, and pried open his mouth. The skin became punctured, and the blood began to flow.  
  
He had the same zeal that Selene did. Rich and filling and unlike anything or anyone else he had ever had. His muscles became locked around the trembling body, never to let go. Yes, the shaking and quivering only seemed to enhance the experience.  
  
Two heart beats thumped in his ears, in his head, and through his entire body. YES! This tasted so good. It FELT good. Better than good. Indescribable.  
  
Suddenly, the last beat of the little heart chimed against him, and his vampire instinct drew him sharply away.  
  
No. He hadn't.  
  
The body in his arms was cold and quite limp. Yuugi's eyes were peacefully closed.  
  
"No," Yami breathed at last. "No, no, no," he said, louder each time. He began shaking to boy to rouse him. "Wake up, Yuugi. Wake up! Y-you can't be gone. Wake up, damn it!"  
  
Hurriedly, he bit down on his wrist, and pushed it to the cold lips. "Drink, Yuugi. Drink! You have to! You have to live!"  
  
There was no response from the pale boy as the crimson liquid poured over his face and trickled into his mouth.  
  
Bloodied tears were streaming down the vampire's face. "No," he pleaded again.  
  
Pounding at the door. He had been too loud. Male voices were demanding to know what was going on.  
  
Lost in his grief and self pity, the vampire fled as fast as he could, invisible to the human eye.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Aeyeta walked in the holding room after shoving her way past the hysteric guards.  
  
Yuugi lay dead on the floor, blood covering his mouth.  
  
Sighing, she wiped it all away, leaving him looking quite peaceful. She knew what had happened.  
  
The puzzle was gone.  
  
Resigned, she stood and faced the rest of the guards. And in a steady voice that was trying to mask the pain and shaking apprehension, she spoke. "It is clear what happened here. The assassins, after killing Jade and Selene, have come and destroyed the pharaoh's lover. We can only assume that the pharaoh himself is also dead, and we must now go on with his memory, and know that he was a great ruler."  
  
With heads hung low, everyone mourned. There was no need to taint the name of their king, and those who knew of the dealings with vampires thought so too, and kept their secrets to the grave.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
After fleeing from the golden palace that had always been his home, Yami fled from Egypt and went north. He figured it the best, as he most likely belonged in the realm of the evil god Set, as he himself must surely be a great sinner now.  
  
The grief caught up with him, though, and he eventually went down into the earth for a very long slumber. A slumber that ended up lasting for three thousand years.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The cold earth was pressed all around him, much like it had always been. Was there a time when he had not been in the earth? He could not remember.  
  
The creatures of the soil were always slithering over him, but it didn't matter. This is what they had always done.  
  
Something was happening, though. Something inside of him was changing. What was beyond all of this dirt? What would he see when he opened his eyes?  
  
He struggled to claw his way up. How he knew which way this was, he had no idea. But it didn't matter. He was going to go up. He was going to see what else there was.  
  
For hours it seemed he labored, pushing away at what was around him. His limbs were becoming tired. He suddenly found himself struggling for air.  
  
Air. Yes, that's what else was above the earth. Air. But wait, wasn't there more? There had to be.  
  
As his claws reached up to push more dirt away, he found no more resistance. Finally! He had reached the surface.  
  
He shoved his face forward and sucked in a deep breath that would have shattered human lungs.  
  
"I say, what do we have here?"  
  
He snapped his ruby eyes open. What was this? Another being? He didn't answer. Instead, he watched. What a strange looking thing, pale as the moon and as lithe a cat.  
  
"Just how long have you been in a slumber, my friend? Your skin looks old and shriveled beyond repair."  
  
The vampire looked down at his own appendages and indeed, he was quite thin. His veins were a tangled mass of painfully stretched rubber over his entire body. There was almost no blood left within him. Mere bones he looked like.  
  
"Here, drink from me. You'll never attract victims looking like that."  
  
Silently he complied, and the memory of the unquenchable thirst came back. Yes, he remembered that he liked blood.  
  
He drank enough to fill his form and no more.  
  
"You're actually quite a hansom character, but you need some clothes. Here, take my cape. That should do you for now. We'll find you some clothes from a suitable mortal."  
  
Yes, clothes. His garments had long ago disintegrated in the earth . "Who are you," the vampire asked.  
  
"My name is Antony. Who are you? You look Egyptian."  
  
"Egyptian? What is that? As for my name, I, I think it's. . . Yami. Yes. Yami."  
  
Antony looked at him scrupulously. "Just how long have you been down?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't remember anything, aside from my name."  
  
"We're vampires, my friend. Please, let me help you for a while. You obviously need it."  
  
"Yes, thank you."  
  
The other vampire, with his deep brown hair and his shaded blue eyes, dug vigorously into his pocket and pulled out something small enough to fit in his fist.  
  
"Here, you probably need this more than I do. It's a sun stone. On those nights when the loss of sunlight drives you almost mad, just hold and look at this. It will remind you of Helios's beauty."  
  
And in his hand was placed a glimmering yellow stone that seemed to have its own light surrounding it.  
  
"It is beautiful," Yami agreed. "Where did you get it?"  
  
Antony shrugged. "I heard that it had once been Ramses the Damned, from the palace of Yu Gi Oh. Everyone I meet, though, tells me that this is a myth. That's all right, though. Unlike the other blood drinkers, I still like to believe in the myths. Especially the new gods."  
  
"Which gods?"  
  
"I'm Greek, if you haven't guessed. You know of Aphrodite and Apollo, Poseidon and the mighty Zeus."  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh, well, come. I have so much to tell you."  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Well, that's it. Next story to come out, the sequel. 'Of Blood and Sacrifice.' R&R!! 


End file.
